Ch 92. Do You Ever Wish To Stay?

The forest surrounding the royal palace was a pool of shadows in the pre-dawn gloom. Elira stood at its edge, a stiller shadow among the trees. Her senses, stretched to their limit, painted a detailed map of the world around her. She could hear the distant, rhythmic tread of the guards at the main gate, the rustle of a mouse in the dry leaves, and the slow, deep breathing of the stable hands asleep in the hayloft. She smelled the dew on the grass, the smoke from the night's dying fires, and the distinct, metallic scent of the palace guards.

Satisfied the coast was clear, she moved.

It was not a run but a blur, a streak of darkness that crossed the open grounds between the forest and the palace walls in a heartbeat. She used a lower balcony as a stepping stone, her powerful legs propelling her upward in a single, fluid leap that carried her to the highest level where the noble quarters were housed. She landed on the familiar stones of Kael's balcony without a sound, her body coiled and