There was a moment—just one—when I thought I might actually get to enjoy a full night of sleep in this cursed palace.
But that would've been too kind, wouldn't it?
The air shifted sometime after the second bell.
I'd already doused the lamps, but I hadn't gone fully to sleep. My body was still, but my ears were tuned—heartbeat steady, breath slow, one arm loose over the blanket and the other tucked under my pillow.
My fingers rested on the knife hidden beneath it.
I heard him before I saw him.
He was good. I'll give him that. Not even the floorboards creaked under his steps. But he breathed too hard. It was only for a split second, but it was still long enough to mark something as out of place.
Honestly, though, it was a rookie mistake.
I waited for him to get closer. His element of surprise had already been compromised, but mine wasn't.
