Moments later,

Author

The sun dipped fully below the palace walls, painting the courtyards in deep indigo and long shadows. Most of the delegates had retired to their quarters, but the group of men who had once centered every thought, every plan, every line of Chloe’s carefully constructed world drifted apart - some to quiet balconies, some to shaded gardens, some to empty antechambers, each alone with thoughts that felt sharper, clearer, less clouded than they had in months. The faint, invisible pull that had drawn them to her, that had softened their judgment and blunted their questions, was fraying like old thread. The charm was fading. And for the...