Noah sat alone in the infirmary ward, the thin blanket pulled up to his waist.
The rest of the room sat quietly around him. After all, he had the entire ward to himself.
The guards outside the door spoke with whispers, their presence a constant reminder that he was no longer trusted to stand alone, even now.
He had declined to give Queen Ines an answer.
I'll think about it, he'd said.
And now, he was thinking about it.
The truth was cruel in its simplicity. The answer itself was obvious. It had been the moment Lady in Dark finished speaking. The moment the scales tipped and refused to balance no matter how hard he tried.
What remained was not what he would do.
It was when.
And how.
He exhaled slowly, staring at the faint reflection of himself in the window. Pale. Weaker than he remembered.
Right now, all he is was a ticking clock slowly counting down to zero.
Even if he chose to summon the monolith, he couldn't do it yet. He was under constant watch.
