( … continued)
Vera stayed there for a long heartbeat…kneeling…her head bowed so low her forehead almost touched the cold marble floor.
The mist swirled languidly around her, licking at the edges of her clothes like tendrils tasting the air. Then, with a shudder that looked half worship, half surrender, reverence mixed with fear…she lowered herself further… into full prostration.
Her palms pressed flat against the stone. Her voice, when it came, was soft, trembling.
"My…My Lady… I have waited so long for you to come back!"
The words floated through the vast dining hall, swallowed by the mist's slow pulse. The fog seemed to shimmer in acknowledgment, rippling in a slow circle around her like breath drawn in by something alive.
Silence followed but it wasn't empty.
It thrummed.
It spoke in vibrations that weren't sound, in words that weren't words.
Vera's body tensed slightly, her fingers curling. Then she nodded…once, sharply, as though receiving instruction.
