The next day, Lucien opened his eyes with the same unease still sitting in his chest.
It had not lessened overnight.
If anything, the night had given it more room to spread.
He stood alone for a long time, looking over Lootwell from the edge of the Stillness Palace, and for the first time since Seran's warning, a thought came to him that he could not push away.
Maybe he should not stay here.
The idea felt ugly the moment it formed.
But the more he examined it, the harder it became to dismiss.
Lootwell had grown too much.
Too many people lived here now. Too many races. Too many allies. Too many promises.
It had become a place where lives actually continued. Children ran through its roads. Monsters learned to speak. Workers argued over schedules. Healers stayed up late because they cared if someone recovered by morning.
And if inevitability truly led Convergence to him—
Then staying here might make all of that part of the cost.
Lucien closed his eyes.
