Time/Date: TC1853.01.22 – Night
Location: East Palace
Amara sat in the cushioned chair by the window, hands gripping the armrests so tightly her knuckles had gone white. Then she'd stand, pace to the door, listen for footsteps that didn't come. Back to the chair. Sit. Stand again. The cycle repeated itself with mechanical precision, her mind unable to settle, unable to focus on anything except the terrible silence in her head.
For the first time in eight years, she was completely, utterly alone.
The sitting room around her—her sitting room now, in the East Palace where that girl had lived in the previous timeline—felt like a trap closing in. Rose-gold furnishings that had seemed so triumphant this morning now looked gaudy. Expensive. Borrowed glory that didn't truly belong to her.
She pressed a hand to her temple, trying to summon the familiar warmth of the System's presence.
Nothing.
