Chapter 19: Fingers in the dark - 9
Lira sat by the window in her small room, her knees drawn up, the violet silk-wrapped shard resting in her lap.
The tavern below was hushed, its hearth a faint glow, the air carrying the scent of cooled woodsmoke and wax from a single candle flickering beside her.
Her silver hair spilled loose over her shoulders, framing her pale face, her emerald eyes fixed on the bundle.
She hadn’t moved for nearly an hour, her breath slow, her heart heavy with the shard’s silent weight.
It no longer hummed or burned, as it had in the ruins.
It waited, still and heavy, like a secret holding its breath.
Lira’s fingers trembled faintly as she unwrapped the silk, the fabric sliding away to reveal the shard’s polished surface, smooth as glass but deeper, like an eye stirred from slumber.
It didn’t reflect her face—her sharp cheekbones, her full lips, her eyes rimmed with unshed tears.
Instead, it showed Kio.