Quiet did not arrive all at once.
It came in fragments.
In the way the gates opened without hesitation. In the absence of hurried footsteps in the halls. In the soft rhythm of guards speaking about ordinary things instead of threats. Palermo did not announce peace. It tested it cautiously, as if unsure whether it was allowed to last.
Aria noticed the change in her body before she trusted it in the world around her.
Her shoulders no longer sat permanently raised. Her breathing deepened without effort. The constant awareness that had lived beneath her skin like a second pulse began to soften.
Not disappear.
Just loosen it.
She woke one morning to sunlight spilling across the bed and realized she had slept through the night without dreaming.
That frightened her.
Then it comforted her.
