Lior was surprisingly okay with letting Ezra go alone with Kaelis to walk him out.
He barely even looked up when Ezra stepped away, already settling back into his seat, his small hand moving across the paper as he resumed drawing like nothing important was happening.
That alone should've been relieving.
It wasn't.
Now, both Kaelis and Ezra were outside.
Alone.
Just them.
The night had settled fully, the air cooler, quieter, the kind of quiet that made every small sound stand out more than it should.
There were no servants nearby, no passing footsteps, no voices in the distance. Just the faint rustle of leaves and the soft shift of their own movements against the ground.
Ezra didn't like it.
"Where's your carriage?" Ezra asks, glancing around, his eyes scanning the space as if something might appear if he looked hard enough.
There was nothing. No guards, no coach, nothing that suggested a prince had arrived at all.
