Chapter 213

CHAPTER 55… VALENTINA As dusk fell, the palace appeared before our eyes, its spires catching the last sunlight like they had been waiting for us. No warning glows this time. No siege preparations or wards straining under pressure. It just stood there, open and steady, so familiar it made my chest ache. Home, sweet home… The gates opened without command. The threshold did not question my authority or test Luciano’s presence. It simply yielded, the way it always had before the world learned to fracture itself around us. I felt it right away— the air got softer, and that constant tension I had been carrying in my bones finally let up. It wasn't totally gone, maybe it never would be, but it was enough that I could breathe without thinking about every breath. Luciano stirred in my arms as we crossed into the inner courtyard, his silver calm and quiet, no longer reaching outward to stabilize, no longer required to hold anything together. For the first time since his birth, he was simply a ch