The silence of the past days had been a suffocating blanket, woven from anxiety and isolation. Viana, confined to her room by the oppressive weight of her knowledge, felt the relentless tightening of time.
Each tick of the clock, each passing dawn without word from Joel, amplified her dread. The vague hints of spring in the crisp morning air, once a promise of renewal, now carried the chill of imminent disaster.
Then, a sudden, jarring knock echoed through her chamber, sharp and insistent. It cut through the stagnant air of her solitude.
Her head snapped up from the map she had been tracing, her heart hammering against her ribs. Before she could call out, Sina, her face alight with an uncharacteristic urgency, burst through the door.
"Princess! He's back! Master Joel has returned!" Sina's voice was a joyous, breathless cry, a stark contrast to the quiet despair of Viana's recent days.
