She didn't know how long she stood there after the door closed. Time felt strange in this place, stretching and slipping past without warning, and the silence in the room wasn't empty because it pressed in around her until it felt like she could hear it.
Eventually, she moved, not because she wanted to but because standing still made her feel like she was becoming part of the room itself.
Her fingers brushed against the edge of the table as she passed, then the back of a chair, then the smooth surface of the wall, and everything felt real and solid, yet still slightly off, like the room existed differently from her.
Her gaze drifted back to the bed, still untouched and perfectly arranged, as if it had been waiting for her, and she looked away almost immediately.
Instead, she moved toward the window again, slower this time, but nothing outside had changed. It still looked like layers of shadows stretching endlessly beyond the palace walls, with no sky she could recognize and no real sense of time.
Her chest tightened slightly.
A knock broke the silence sharply enough to make her flinch, and she turned immediately, her body tensing before she could stop it.
"Come in," she said.
The door opened, and Lila stepped inside just as composed and quiet as before, her presence blending into the room instead of disturbing it.
"You're expected," she said.
Her brows pulled together slightly. "Now?"
Lila nodded once, and that answer was enough.
Her fingers curled at her sides, but she moved anyway because there was no point asking questions she wouldn't get answers to.
The walk through the palace felt different this time, maybe shorter, or maybe she just wasn't paying attention to the corridors anymore because her focus stayed on where they were going.
Her steps remained steady, even as her chest tightened with each turn, because she already knew.
The hall.
The throne.
Him.
When they reached the doors, neither of them stopped, and the doors opened smoothly as they approached, revealing the same vast hall, except this time it wasn't empty.
Voices filled the space, low and controlled, but the moment she stepped inside, they stopped completely.
Her steps faltered for only a second before she forced herself forward again.
The court was there, seated along both sides of the long tables, watching her openly now, not hiding it, studying her as if she were something unfamiliar.
She kept her gaze forward and refused to look at them, but she could still feel it, their attention heavy and impossible to ignore.
Her pulse quickened as she walked, the sound of her footsteps echoing louder than it should have, and the closer she got, the quieter everything became until it was just her and him.
He was already there, seated on the throne as if he had never left it, as if there was nowhere else he belonged, his posture relaxed and his gaze fixed on her from the moment she entered.
Her breath caught slightly, but she didn't stop this time.
She walked all the way to the center of the room and stopped, and the silence settled again, thicker now.
He didn't speak immediately, and instead let the silence stretch long enough for her to feel it before he finally said, "Sit."
Her eyes flicked to the seat beside him, the same one as before, and her stomach tightened again as she became aware of the court watching, waiting.
She didn't move right away, not because she was unsure, but because she understood now that this wasn't just about sitting, and whatever it meant, everyone else already knew except her.
Her jaw tightened slightly before she stepped forward and moved up the platform, each step feeling heavier than the last, as if the air itself resisted her.
She didn't look at him as she reached the seat, and she didn't look at anyone else either, she simply sat.
The moment she did, the shift in the room was immediate, subtle but real, like a decision had just been confirmed.
Her hands rested in her lap, her fingers curling slightly against the fabric as she kept her gaze forward, steady even if her chest wasn't.
"Eat," he said.
Only then did she notice the table in front of them, the food placed neatly as if it had always been there.
Her stomach turned slightly, not from hunger, but from the realization that everything here moved without her noticing.
"I'm not hungry," she said quietly, but firmly.
A pause followed before he replied, "You weren't asked."
Her fingers tightened at his words, that quiet control settling over the moment again, but she reached for the glass anyway because she knew refusing further wouldn't change anything.
The liquid was cool and unfamiliar as she swallowed carefully, aware that his gaze hadn't left her.
"Good," he said.
She placed the glass back down slowly, her movements controlled as the silence stretched again, heavier this time, as if the room itself was waiting.
And that was what unsettled her the most, not knowing what came next, but knowing something would.