[House Karzath — The Next Day]
Morning light filtered through the tall carved windows of House Karzath, slipping across the polished floor like thin strands of molten gold. The chamber was quiet, scented faintly with incense and cedarwood.
Lady Arinaya stood before the bronze mirror, her posture straight and composed, though her thoughts were anything but calm. Behind her, a maid moved slowly, brushing through the long strands of her hair with careful strokes.
Arinaya watched her reflection, though her gaze seemed to look past it.
'Something is wrong.' The thought had lingered in her mind since dawn. 'How is it possible…that I do not remember going to the palace nine nights ago?'
She rarely forgot anything. Memory was discipline, and discipline was survival, and yet there was nothing. Only an empty stretch of time where recollection should have been.
Even stranger—she remembered sleeping.
Sleeping for nearly an entire day. Arinaya almost scoffed at the thought.
