Liora noticed the change before anyone named it.

It wasn’t dramatic. There was no crack of thunder, no sudden failure of wards or collapse of streets. It was quieter than that—so quiet most people mistook it for peace. The kind of stillness that settled just before something learned how to move on its own.

She stood on the upper terrace of the palace, fingers resting lightly on the stone rail, watching the city breathe. The air hummed with motion: lanterns adjusting their glow as dusk ...