ARIA POINT OF VIEW

Nightfall came too quietly.

I noticed it only because the light changed, because the last wash of gold slipped from the windows and left Shadowfang draped in blue and silver. Lamps were lit one by one along the corridors. Guards changed shifts, life continued as it always did.

Except Thorne was not back.

I stood at the balcony outside my chamber, fingers curled around the cold stone railing, eyes fixed on the darkening forest beyond the walls. The trees were nothing but ...