#Chapter 44 Different

Ember I spend most of the morning in my office, sorting through the latest batch of reports from the outer patrols. A few details don’t sit right with me. Patrol rotations that overlap where they shouldn’t. Two identical status notes submitted by guards who weren’t assigned to the same region. Nothing conclusive, but enough to flag. I make quiet notes in the margins and stack the suspicious reports to the side. I’ll cross reference them later with the older logs. There’s no sense in assuming anything yet, but I’ve learned not to ignore patterns. Especially lately. I don’t know who I can trust beyond a very short list, and even then, I double check everything. The room is quiet. Only the soft rustle of paper and the occasional tap of my pencil breaks the silence. I’ve started to appreciate having a space that’s mine. It’s not big, but it’s private, and it gives me something I’ve never really had before, a place to belong. I try not to think about Prince Kaine. He’s been...