The hidden stairway sealed behind him with a muted thrum, swallowing the last echo of the underhall. Lucian stood alone in his room, shoulders loosening for the first time since he descended hours before. Dawn hadn't broken yet; the world still breathed in silver.
Moonlight spilled across the floorboards, painting steel-toned streaks at his feet. He brushed faint dust from his palms, metal flecks catching the light before disappearing into the darkness. The traces of the council faded from his clothes as he stripped off the dark coat and folded it neatly away.
For a moment, he lingered at the window.
The Ashthorn gardens glimmered under the moon, frost-kissed leaves winking like old secrets. The manor slept, peaceful and unaware of the shadows he navigated beneath it.
Lucian exhaled softly."Under iron and moonlight… always the same path."
The words dissolved into the quiet.
He changed quickly, slipping into soft linen, extinguished the candle, and slid beneath the covers just as the first bird chirped outside his window.
Sleep took him instantly, the heavy kind that comes only after carrying too many masks.
Sunlight broke differently in the Ashthorn dining hall. It spilled through tall windows like liquid gold, warming the marble floors and turning the air sharp with the scent of tea and toasted bread.
Lucian entered mid-yawn, fingers combing through hair that was definitely not cooperating.
Elinor spotted him first.
"Luci!" she shrieked, barreling into him at full force.
He caught her just before she collided with his ribs. "Easy," he murmured, adjusting her onto his hip. "I'm fragile, remember?"
"No, you're not," she declared, patting his cheek with the authority of a queen correcting a fool.
Kaelric looked up from his seat, scowling. "You're late."
But without meeting Lucian's eyes, he nudged a plate toward the empty chair beside him. Extra fruit. Two pieces of bread. A silent offering disguised as irritation.
Serenya sipped her tea, silver eyes traveling slowly from Lucian's face to the faint shadows under his eyes. "You didn't sleep."
"I did," Lucian lied smoothly.
Serenya raised a brow but said nothing, storing the observation for later like any tactician worth their salt.
Elira sat poised at the head of the table, brushing Elinor's curls as Lucian set the child down beside her. Her voice, soft but firm, carried across the room. "Eat well. Today's training will be demanding."
Kaelen glanced up from a document, eyes dark and unreadable but warm in the way mountains are warm, steady, protective, restrained. He gave Lucian a small nod, the quiet greeting only the two of them used.
Breakfast unfolded with familiar chaos.
Elinor insisted on feeding Lucian bites of her food.Kaelric grumbled about her favoritism while gently pushing the jam closer to Lucian.Serenya complained about everyone being loud but slid the honey jar toward him without a word.Lucian endured all of it with the soft tolerance of an older brother who'd long accepted defeat.
At one point, Elinor climbed into his lap and began braiding pieces of his hair with ribbons he distinctly remembered buying yesterday.
"You look pretty," she announced.
Kaelric choked on his drink. Serenya hid a smile behind her cup.
Lucian sighed, resigned. "Thank you, Elinor. Truly."
The warmth at the table brushed against him like sunlight on cold steel, gentle, fleeting, but real.
A servant passed by murmuring something about "strange noises in the manor grounds last night."Kaelen's brows drew together for a heartbeat.Lucian lifted his cup, expression blankly calm.
The conversation moved on.
As breakfast settled into comfortable noise, Lucian's gaze drifted toward the tall windows. Morning light poured into the courtyard, chasing away the last remnants of moonlight.
For a moment, it felt like the two halves of his world would never touch, the boy wrapped in sunlight and the shadow walking beneath iron and moonlight.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Morning was kind.Morning didn't ask who he truly was.
The day continued.