Before to Saying Goodbye: A Bath with the Queen
The door thudded softly shut, the noise immediately absorbed by the subsequent silence. Queen Sona stood beside it, fingers tracing the glinting brass handle. The room seemed quieter now—hollower in some way—since Lira's sudden visit. A gentle exhalation escaped her lips as she turned away to face the chamber's center, her mind still entwined in what had transpired.
But the instant she turned, her breath froze in her throat.
Leon emerged from behind the velvet drapes.
Or rather, glided out—like a shadow escaping the morning.
