Stone swallowed the heavy echo as he climbed the stairs from the sub levels.
Twenty floors up, the burning air thinned with each step, cooling into the polished quiet of the upper palace.
He moved through the wide marble archways without looking at the guards posted along the hall, walking until he reached the open balcony overlooking the festival grounds below.
The sun sat ten minutes from the horizon.
Across Solstia, the festival light shifted from gold to a deep, bruised orange, casting long shadows over the cobblestones as the first streetlamps flickered to life along the lower avenues.
Xerxus found Kota and the crew immediately.
From high above, he watched Kota move through the square. The festival crowd parted around him without meaning to, people clearing a path the second his boots touched the stone.
He walked with a heavy, steady posture, shoulders set, carrying himself like the ground beneath him was already his.
Xerxus rested his palms against the cool railing, his knuckles turning white as he stared down at Kota's face in the fading light. A sudden, sharp ache tightened in his throat.
Xermes, he thought, his jaw clenching as his chest swelled with an old, heavy weight. Why did you leave this kingdom to me? Why leave me to clean up the ash?
Footsteps echoed down the marble corridor behind him, slow and deliberate. A councilmember approached, stopping a few paces back from the balcony ledge.
"The festival is drawing significant attention, my lord," the councilmember said quietly. "The nobles in the high pavilion took notice of the boy during the crystal ceremony. People are talking."
Xerxus listened without turning from the railing. His eyes remained fixed on the square below, his thumb scraping against the rough stone rail. "All nobles do is talk. It's becoming an annoyance."
"They see Leona's reflection in him," the councilmember added, his voice dropping an octave. "And they fear what follows it. The crest of the house is not something they easily forget."
"The council is assembling," the councilmember continued, adjusting the heavy sash across his shoulder. "They are calling for you. They want a meeting at sunset."
The last arc of the sun rested flat against the distant spires.
"Tell them I am coming," Xerxus said, his voice barely a murmur.
"They will ask for assurances regarding the sub levels," the councilmember warned softly. "The lords who backed Xermes's final decree will not tolerate a breach."
"I know what they will ask," Xerxus said.
The councilmember bowed his head and retreated down the hall, his footsteps fading into the quiet of the palace interior.
Xerxus turned back to the railing one last time.
Down in the square, at that exact moment, Kota froze. He didn't hear a sound over the noise of the crowd, but a sharp pulse flared behind his ribs, forcing his chin up.
His eyes traveled up the high white stone, rising past the banners and the arched windows, until they locked directly onto the balcony.
He found Xerxus looking straight down at him.
For two seconds, neither of them moved. Neither of them blinked. The air between the high gallery and the street felt suddenly thin, tight with years of quiet anger and unanswered questions.
Kota felt his blood react to the gaze, a heavy static rattling through his chest like iron on stone.
Then Xerxus straightened, turned away from the stone rail, and disappeared into the shadowed halls of the palace without a word.
Down on the street, the festival crowd continued to surge around the group, but the stares lingered.
A shopkeeper pulled his young daughter back behind a wooden counter. A passing noble adjusted his cloak, his eyes darting toward Kota's hair with a look of pale, quiet dread.
"They're still watching," Leiya said softly, taking a drink from her water canteen before securing it back to her belt.
Thorne tore a piece of bread from a hot roll he bought at a nearby stall, chewing as his eyes swept the surrounding guard posts. "Let them watch. We gave them something real to look at."
Mira carried a small paper wrapper of dried fruit, picking out a piece as she walked beside them. "It's not just curiosity. The merchants near the eastern arch closed their stalls early the moment you stepped out of the ring, Kota."
Kota stood near the edge of the fountain, his right fist tightly clenched, his arm trembling slightly as the faint prickle of Yen settled into a dull, throbbing ache beneath his skin.
Jaeger stood beside him, posture rigid, jaw set, his hands resting loosely near his belt line. The rest of the crew said nothing about it.
Kota looked back up at the high gallery. The marble balcony sat empty against the darkening sky.
The last sliver of sun dropped below the Solstian spires, plunging the upper walls into shadow as the palace lamps ignited all along the stone facade.
Somewhere deep within those upper halls, Xerxus walked into a room full of the people who had put Syrelle in chains.