Lucian's POV
I poured myself a cup of wine I hadn't paid for and watched the liquid settle in the cup. Even stillness contains information if you're patient enough to observe it. The surface trembled once, then again, so slight most would have missed it.
The wards nearby were adjusting.
Again.
Delayed response. Uneven calibration.
The mountain was learning how to hesitate.
Aurora had chosen restraint.
Catherine had chosen necessity.
Neither choice surprised me.
What interested me, what always interested me was how quickly everyone else had chosen interpretation.
People don't wait for outcomes. They decide what something means long before it finishes happening.
And meaning spreads faster than truth.
The world does not fracture at the moment of conflict. That is merely when the noise becomes loud enough to demand attention. It fractures earlier, quieter at the moment someone stops waiting for permission and starts calling that decision responsibility.
