Callie learned quickly that the palace spoke most clearly when it believed no one was watching.

Secrets didn't announce themselves. They lived in pauses between footsteps, in glances exchanged too quickly to be innocent, in doors that were never locked but no one entered. Here, knowledge wasn't discovered; it was absorbed, slowly, through proximity and patience.

And Callie had both.

She performed her morning tasks with meticulous precision, practicing each movement, controlling each breath. The discipline Darian had instilled in her had sharpened her attention. Where she once rushed through tasks, she now paused, not idly, but attentively. Listening. Watching.

Learning.

The palace was restless today. She could sense it in the way the servants huddled together in silent groups, in the tension that lurked beneath their polite expressions. Something had changed. Something was about to surface.

She passed beneath the east gallery, where portraits of former rulers stood with a somber