The residual seals held. The courier sat secured in the lower cells under double ward and continuous watch. Outside the temple walls the immediate threat had gone quiet. For the first time in days the evening stretched open instead of collapsing into the next crisis.
Aiden stood on the upper colonnade after the lamps were lit. The stone still held the day's heat. Below, the courtyard lamps threw steady yellow pools across the flagstones.
He had checked the perimeter once more out of habit and then stopped himself. There was nothing left that required his eyes right now.
Elizabeth found him there. She did not announce herself with footsteps or voice. She simply appeared at the rail a few paces away and rested her hands on the stone the same way he did.
They stood like that for a while. The city noise beyond the walls was ordinary—carts, distant voices, the low grind of a gate being closed for the night. No alarms. No runners.
