Lucien spent the next several days doing exactly what Alanthuriel had told him to do.
He looked inward.
At first, that accomplished very little.
Nothing unexpected appeared beyond the changes caused by the newest Bark.
Everything had changed, but nothing seemed significant enough to explain why Alanthuriel had specifically warned him to examine what was inside.
That irritated Lucien.
Mostly because he was beginning to suspect Alanthuriel had known exactly how long this would bother him.
Lucien continued anyway.
He stopped looking for something obviously new.
Instead, he began comparing how his inner realm behaved now against how it had behaved months ago.
That was when he noticed it.
At first, he thought he had made a mistake.
Then he checked again.
His expression changed.
A third examination produced the same result.
Lucien went completely still.
"This can't be right."
Unfortunately or fortunately, it was.
•••
Lucien entered his inner realm directly.
