The entire manor turned cold the moment Cassian Vale’s boots left the front steps.

Servants moved faster than usual, carrying messages, preparing travel trunks. Guards tightened patrols, and the shadow knights who usually melted into corners now stood openly in the halls. Even the air seemed heavier, like the quiet before a storm.

By midday, Ezekiel had already heard his mother give three separate sets of commands.
“Double the sentries on the west road.”
“No one enters or leaves without my signature.”
“If Cassian Vale lingers nearby, I want to know where he eats, where he sleeps, and who breathes in his direction.”

Ezekiel caught her once in the corridor, crimson eyes glittering. “You will stay within sight of Rue or me until we leave. No wandering. Not even to the stables.”

“I’m not a child,” Ezekiel muttered.

“Then stop acting like one,” she snapped, striding past him with her cloak flaring behind her.

In the afternoon, Edric dragged him to the training yard.
“The banquet may look like a party, but it’s a battlefield in silk,” Edric warned, handing him a practice sword. “You’ll need to stand like you belong there. You’ll need to bow properly, speak properly, and keep your blade arm ready in case all that etiquette fails.”

They practiced until Ezekiel’s arms ached, not just swordwork but posture, speech, and the kind of calm stare that didn’t flinch under scrutiny.

“Again,” Edric barked. “You look like a farm boy who tripped into a noble’s suit.”

“I am a farm boy who tripped into a noble’s suit!” Ezekiel shot back, swinging too wide.

Edric grinned. “Then we’ll fix that.”

That evening, his grandfather called him to the library. Maps of the capital lay spread across the table, pins marking roads and gates.

“Remember this,” the Duke said gravely, tapping the palace outline. “In that hall, every smile hides a dagger. Especially the Emperor’s.”

Ezekiel nodded, feeling his stomach knot tighter.

When the household finally went quiet, Ezekiel lay awake staring at the ceiling beams. Tomorrow they would leave for the capital — for the Emperor’s banquet, under imperial order, under imperial threat.

He thought of his father’s warning in the dream: 

Stay close to Lana. Don’t let them turn you against her.
He thought of Cassian Vale’s cold violet eyes.

Sleep wouldn’t come. Only the sound of wagons being loaded in the courtyard below, and the restless beating of his own heart.