Gold withdrew from the Rotunda.
It faded first from the plaques above the Floor, then from the Role Seals resting upon dozens of open palms. House crests folded into themselves, private objectives dissolved, and borrowed names vanished until Elise Maraven, Corvin Aerath, and all the other people created for the examination seemed no more substantial than figures remembered from a play.
Reilan's hand was empty again.
Selphine released it as the last trace of her own seal disappeared. Around them, partners separated with varying degrees of relief, and the Salon lost its carefully arranged factions as students returned to the people they actually knew. One girl laughed when her partner addressed her by the wrong name. A young man nearby continued staring at his palm, rubbing it against his coat as though the Rotunda might have left behind one final instruction.
Block 7-A gathered near the outer curve of the Floor.
