The End Unseen

THIRTEEN

With the unexpected interruption, the council had run well into the night, the sun long since hidden behind the horizon when they adjourned. Jesenia’s heart had been heavy of late, and she disappeared into the quiet gardens of the palace with a piece of parchment she had taken from the chamber.

She approached a fountain at the center of the garden, and folded the paper meticulously against the stone edge until it created the shape of a bowl, meant to be used in place of a lantern. She plucked a flower from the beds near her knees and placed it in the paper.

She had no fire to light it, but it wasn’t as important as letting the lantern float freely in the water, even if it had nowhere to go but in circles in the fountain.