The following morning arrived beneath a pale gray sky that hovered quietly above Regina estate, and though the wolves of the territory had already begun their patrols along the forest ridges the manor itself remained wrapped in a slower silence, as if the stone walls still remembered the tension of the previous night and held it within their ancient bones.
Two lines of quiet footsteps moved along the eastern corridor.
Elara walked alone.
Her fingers brushed lightly along the carved wooden railing while the early light filtered through the tall windows and painted narrow gold lines across the floor.
"Hmm," she murmured softly.
"Too damn early for politics."
Behind her a voice answered.
"Unfortunately that's when the best secrets appear."
Elara turned.
