The darkness lasted only a second.
Perhaps two.
Yet when the candles suddenly died, and the hidden library disappeared into complete blackness, time seemed to stretch.
Aliena could hear her own breathing.
Could hear her heartbeat.
Could hear the distant sound of rain beginning outside the palace windows.
But there was something else.
Something softer.
A sound like petals brushing against stone.
Her fingers trembled.
Slowly—
very slowly—
she looked downward.
The floor had disappeared.
No.
Not disappeared.
Changed.
Silver flowers spread across the library floor.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Growing between the stone tiles.
Their pale petals glowed faintly in the darkness.
The same flowers.
The same field.
The same flowers from her dream.
Her heart stopped.
The whisper came again.
Closer this time.
"Aliena."
The voice wasn't frightening.
That somehow made it worse.
It was gentle.
Warm.
Almost familiar.
Like someone she had once known.
