#Chapter 95 – Absence

Damon The moment I stepped into the courtyard, I knew something was wrong. The palace gates groaned open ahead of us, the guards offering their bows a beat too slow. Ronan had peeled off to handle the travel reports. I stayed behind, expecting the usual—an update on the selection, Council requests, maybe a moment of quiet before the chaos resumed. Instead, silence greeted me like a fog. No attendants rushed forward with messages. No one met my gaze directly. The stillness wasn’t reverent—it was suspicious. I handed my coat to a waiting steward, but he flinched when our hands brushed. I stared at him until he bowed and fled. My chest ached—low and sharp, like a bruise beneath the ribs. At first, I thought it was fatigue. The journey had been long, the meetings longer. But the ache pulsed deeper, just below where the bond sat—where I should’ve felt her. Lila. I reached for her in that quiet way we’d learned to do—wordless and warm. But there was nothing. Not emp