"The king is waiting in the garden."
Sherry, the king's head maid, said, accompanied by a few knights surrounding them, her voice polite but almost monotonous, as if she had rehearsed the line over and over.
The moment they arrived, the king's knights didn't waste time.
The carriage door opened, and before Ezra could even fully steady himself, they were already being ushered out, directed forward without pause.
There was no lingering, no chance to gather his thoughts.
They were expected to move.
And so they did.
Ezra kept a firm hold on Lior as they stepped into the palace grounds, the familiar weight of authority pressing in around him.
The air itself felt different here.
Everything felt controlled.
And Ezra felt like he was being watched, although there weren't any eyes on him.
They were being directed not to the throne room, but down a familiar hallway.
Ezra's steps slowed slightly.
'This is where I ran…and…'
The memory hit him without warning.
That night.
