Lord Baek came back at dawn.
I heard the door before I saw him — I hadn't slept, which was probably obvious from the state of me sitting upright at the edge of a chair with Kaien's hand still in mine and Ren fully asleep across the reading chair with a book balanced on his chest that he had definitely not read.
The door opened. Lord Baek entered. He was carrying a sealed document case, the red cord of an Imperial decree wrapped twice around it.
I was on my feet before he'd finished closing the door.
"It's done," he said.
The words landed in the room and I felt them go through me in layers. First the relief — sharp and physical, like a breath after holding underwater. Then the disbelief. Then something quieter underneath both of them, the specific feeling of waiting for the next thing to go wrong.
Nine lifetimes of practice. Old habits.
