Neither of them moved. They stood there, suspended between duty and instinct, and I could see the exact moment their instincts won. The first guard swallowed hard and stepped aside. The second one followed, his half-drawn sword sliding back into its scabbard with a soft click.
I walked past them.
The corridor was long and quiet. My footsteps echoed against the pale stone. The sweet scent grew stronger the deeper I went, mingling with the faint smell of candle wax and old paper. It reminded me of the Cathedral back in the academy town. That same suffocating sanctimony baked into the air itself.
Third corridor. I turned into it.
There was a single door at the end, larger than the others, with a golden sunburst carved into the wood. Two more guards stood on either side, but these ones were different. They weren't young soldiers playing dress-up. They were older, harder, and the way they watched me approach told me they had been in real fights before.
