The festival had ended in a slow, glittering fade. The last falling stars had drifted down like dying embers, the music had softened into distant echoes, and the Grand Celestial Plaza had emptied until only the night wind moved across the obsidian.
Bai Yue slipped back into the guest pavilion long after the others had retired.
Zhēn had fallen asleep against the Burning Sky's shoulder hours ago, and Dà Jiāo Huǒ had carried her off to his private chambers. Bai Yue hadn't argued. She'd only pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead and let them go.
Now the pavilion was silent. Moonlight spilled through the carved screens, turning everything silver and shadow. Bai Yue shed the deep purple gown with careful hands, folding it over the back of a chair like it belonged to someone else.
She pulled on a simple sleeping robe,soft linen, undyed, and crawled beneath the covers. The bed was enormous, carved from pale jade-veined wood, and it swallowed her small frame.
She closed her eyes.
