No one should have been in my quarters at this hour. The whole floor was silent–the kind of deep, controlled quiet that came only after every guard changed post and every unnecessary torch was extinguished.

So when I heard a voice behind me, low and too damn casual, the muscles in my shoulders tightened before I even turned.

"Where are you going?"

Noah stood in the doorway, arms folded, posture relaxed in that way that always hid calculation. The lantern behind him cast a thin rim of gold around his silhouette, making him look like a judgment sitting there with arms crossed.

I exhaled through my nose. "For a walk."...