Nevara
The palace felt too quiet.
Not peaceful quiet. The kind that comes after a celebration ends and everyone drifts home.
This was the heavy quiet that follows chaos.
Outside the tall windows of the council corridor, the palace courtyard was lit by floodlights and security lamps. Guards moved constantly across the grounds in rotating patrols, their radios crackling softly as they checked in with one another.
The entire compound was on alert.
It had been since the shot rang out at the wedding.
Since Noah disappeared.
I stood near the window with my arms folded, watching the movement below without really seeing it. Every time a vehicle drove through the outer gates or a group of guards changed patrol routes, my mind immediately jumped to the same desperate hope.
Maybe they found
