Morning light filled the dining hall as they entered.
It poured through the tall windows and stretched across the long wooden table where breakfast had already been arranged with careful order.
Platters of roasted meat rested beside baskets of warm bread and bowls of fresh fruit. Porcelain cups filled with dark tea released thin spirals of steam that carried a faint, bitter fragrance into the quiet room.
Servants moved discreetly along the edges of the hall, adjusting linens and replacing dishes with the quiet precision of people who had long ago learned to exist without disturbing their masters.
Selena stepped into the room first.
Her posture was naturally straight, her movements unhurried, the calm composure of someone raised with the understanding that others watched her even when they pretended not to. Silas entered beside her a moment later, his presence calm and confident as his gaze moved briefly across the room.
