The days passed quietly.
Too quietly.
The Citadel felt suspended in a heavy silence, like the stillness before a sudden downpour. Lin Wan had begun to notice that everyone around her was watching her every move with sharp, careful eyes.
Sister Yun watched how long she stood by the wooden window frame.
Mira watched how much rice and soup she ate at every meal.
The guards standing at the hallway corners watched every single step she took along the stone corridors.
Even Physician Alaric had started appearing twice a day, his dark leather bag of medical tools clutched in his hand.
Lin Wan finally lost her patience one warm afternoon as sunlight streamed weakly through the shutters.
"Alaric."
The elderly physician looked up from his carved medicine box, his wrinkled hands pausing over small paper packets of dried herbs.
"Yes, My Lady?"
"Am I sick?"
"No."
"Then why does everyone keep watching me like I am about to break?"
