Chapter 60
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Later that night, she turned off the lamps one by one.
The room went dark except for the moonlight coming through the tall windows, pale and cold across the floor.
She got into bed and lay on her back.
Her eyes stayed open.
The chair was against the door, solid in the shadows.
The palace was completely quiet around her.
Somewhere deep in the corridor, the grandfather clock began to chime.
She counted without meaning to.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
The last chime faded, and silence returned.
She stared at the chair braced under the door handle and told herself she felt nothing.
The moonlight shifted slowly across the floor.
The connecting door didn't open.
She turned onto her side, away from it.
It still didn't open.
Her anger was still there. Steady and cold now, rather than hot. The kind that didn't burn out quickly.
She closed her eyes.
The connecting door remained closed.
She didn't sleep for a long time.