The corridors stretched on longer than they should have.
At first, Aria thought it was just grandeur that typical tendency to build spaces larger than they were needed, purely to remind everyone inside how small they were. But the longer she walked, the more she noticed the shift. The hallway carpets changed in colornot faded with age, but freshly woven with different thread. The windows grew narrower, taller, until they resembled arrow slits more than sources of light.
There were no mirrors.
None.
Not in the halls, nor in the corners, not even where the decorative niches practically begged for them.
The air tasted a little dry here. Like something meant to be preserved.
She passed three locked doors in quick succession. All wooden, dark, with old keyholes and no labels. She tried each handle lightly none of them budged.
At the fourth door, she found it slightly ajar.
She pushed it open with the slow caution of someone half expecting to be caught in the act.
The library greeted her like a cathedral towering walls of books, a spiral staircase that crawled up the far wall, and stained-glass windows throwing broken light across the rugs like pieces of puzzlework.
And voices, low and male
She stepped inside without meaning to, letting the door fall shut behind her with a whisper-click.
Shelves stretched around her like covers She ducked into an aisle and moved with her back to the spines, inching toward the sound.
"…I told you this would happen," said one voice. Measured, tired. "They think she's just decorative."
Lucien.
"No, they think she's a miscalculation," came the other. "Which is worse."
This second voice was unfamiliar. A little older maybe
Aria edged forward. Through a gap between heavy tomes, she glimpsed them Lucien and a man in a black suit. The stranger had angular features and dark eyes . A silver pin at his collar glinted in the low light
"She doesn't know what she's a part of," the man said.
Lucien just looked back at him passingly . "She doesn't need to know yet."
The man tilted his head. "And if she finds out?"
"She won't." He turned toward the desk and picked up something that looked like a folded parchment or seal. "We keep the structure as it is. Her presence stabilizes the agreement. The rest… is just a presentation."
Aria narrowed her eyes. An agreement ?
"Still," The man continued, "the Council won't like it if they think you're improvising. They already think you've softened."
Lucien gave a dry, joyless laugh. "Let them. If I were soft, she'd be dead."
Aria didn't realize she'd stopped breathing until her chest stung.
The man rose, sweeping his coat around his knees. "If this fails Lucien "
"It won't Nathan"
There was a moment of held silence, then footsteps, the man Nathan, heading toward the far door, the one Aria hadn't seen.
She crouched lower between the shelves.
The door opened then Closed again.
Aria exhaled slowly then waited two long beats, then started to rise
"Did you enjoy the conversation?" Lucien's voice came behind her.
She froze and turned around, eyes wide open at the prospect of her being caught listening in on Lucien's conversation
He stood just inside her aisle, casual as if she'd invited him. One hand tucked in his pocket, the other brushing the spines of a shelf beside her.
He hadn't moved, He'd never left.
Oh shit she thought, straightening slowly, instinct drawing her back until her spine met the shelf behind her. The books were cold through her dress.
Lucien didn't approach.
He just stood there, hands at ease, gaze unreadable in that unnerving, practiced way he had like he'd learned how not to blink when it mattered.
"Well?" he asked softly.
"I wasn't listening,in on your conversation, I was simply just here trying to read. Aria said.
Lucien tilted his head. "You weren't listening to the private conversation you followed into a sealed room?"
"I didn't follow anyone. I found a library."
His eyebrow lifted just slightly. "And then found a place to crouch."
"I wasn't crouching."
He let that hang in the air, not challenging her, not conceding. Just… leaving it there.
Aria folded her arms. "What's the Council?"
Lucien didn't react.
"You said my presence stabilizes an agreement," she added. "Does that have to do with the ceremony last night, or what did you mean, do I stabilize things just by being decorative?"
Now he smiled, Not a real onejust that corner-tilted expression he wore like a second coat.
"Careful," he said. "I thought you said you weren't listening in on my conversation. You're beginning to sound involved."
Aria stepped forward once, the shelf now at her back like a held breath. "And what if I already am?"
"Then I'd advise you to learn the shape of the walls before you start kicking at them."
That stopped her. Just for a moment.
"What does that even mean?"she waited a bit then "Why did you move me?"
"To the bed?" he said, as if the topic bored him. "You were cold."
"That's not really an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
She stared at him, waiting.
He stared back, unbothered.
Finall, he turned, started walking past her toward the archway. He paused at the threshold, voice casual.
"Be ready by six."
"What for?"
He glanced over his shoulder. "For supper ."
She frowned. "What does that even mean?"
"You'll see." He left.
And just like that, Aria was alone left again.