You knew that tune.

It was the prelude to the Song of the Twelve Roses—the piece Lyanna had been composing for weeks. She played it every morning in the Sisters' Hall, her fingers finding the notes while the rest of the castle still slept.

But today, something was different.

Today, the melody stopped abruptly.

Then started again. Stopped. Restarted.

Lyanna never hesitated.

You pushed yourself up on your elbows, the embroidered curtains of your canopy bed still dim with dawn-light, and listened. The castle was quiet—too quiet for a day that promised to be anything but ordinary. In the distance, you could hear the faint clatter of the kitchens stirring awake, and below your balcony, the rustle of the royal gardens as the first gardeners began their work.

And in the hall just beyond your chambers?

Footsteps. Quick. Deliberate. The kind of footsteps that weren't trying to be quiet.

You knew those footsteps too.

A knock. Three quick raps at your door.

"Princess Esther."

Captain Cassian Valehart's voice was low and measured, as always. But there was something underneath it—something tight, something that made you push the blankets aside before he even finished speaking.

"The king requests your presence in the Council Chamber. Immediately."

Immediately.

The word hung in the air like a bell that hadn't finished ringing.