They were still walking when Soliana saw her.

  Not head-on. Not close. Just a glimpse through an intersecting corridor—Flora’s familiar posture, her hair tied back the way it always was when she was mid-task, speaking with another servant whose face Soliana didn’t recognize.

  Flora was smiling.

  Talking.

  Occupied.

  The realization hit Soliana all at once, sharp and electric.

  Her feet stopped.

  Her chest tightened.

  If Flora turned her head—just a little—if she stepped closer to the junction—

  Soliana moved.

  She didn’t think. She didn’t plan. She broke into a sudden run, darting forward and cutting sharply to the side, pressing herself behind a wide stone pillar before her breath could betray her.

  “—wait, where are you going—?”

  Eric’s voice rang out immediately.

  Loud. Confused. Unrestrained.

  Soliana squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Hey!” Eric called after her. “You can’t just—wait—!”

  Footsteps slowed nearby.

  Soliana pressed herself flatter against the stone, heart pounding so hard she was certain it could be heard through the pillar. She clutched the edge with one hand, the cool surface grounding her just enough to keep from bolting again.

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  Please don’t look this way.

  Please don’t—

  “—excuse me?”

  Flora’s voice.

  Warm. Polite. Close.

  Soliana froze.

  From her hiding place, she could see just enough to know what was happening without seeing everything. Eric had stopped short, the books in his arms shifting dangerously as he turned.

  “Oh—uh—sorry,” Eric said quickly.

  The stack tilted.

  Leather strap slipping.

  Books spilled.

  They hit the stone floor with a clatter that echoed far louder than it had any right to.

  Soliana flinched.

  “Oh no—are you alright?” Flora asked immediately.

  Her footsteps moved closer.

  Eric scrambled, crouching to gather the fallen books. “Yeah—yeah, I’m fine. I swear. Just—uh—lost my balance.”

  Flora knelt beside him without hesitation, steadying one of the books before it slid farther. “Careful,” she said, gently but firmly. “Inferna’s floors don’t forgive mistakes.”

  “I know,” Eric muttered, mortified. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  Flora glanced over him—not critically, but thoroughly. The way people did when they were checking for injuries rather than blame. Her gaze lingered on the bruising along his cheekbone.

  She frowned. Just a little.

  “That training of yours is getting sloppy,” she said lightly. “If you keep moving like this, I might have to complain to Leon.”

  Eric went pale.

  “No—wait—please don’t—!” He blurted it out before thinking, eyes wide. “I swear I’m trying—he’ll kill me—!”

  Flora blinked.

  Then laughed.

  Not sharply. Not mockingly. Just a soft, surprised sound, like she hadn’t expected that reaction at all.

  “I’m joking,” she said. “Breathe. Leon doesn’t need more excuses to work you into the ground.”

  Eric sagged with visible relief, clutching the books tighter. “Don’t do that,” he said weakly. “That name alone is terrifying.”

  Flora smiled, amused. “You’ll survive.”

  She stood, brushing dust from her skirts, then offered Eric a hand. He took it, scrambling up quickly.

  “Thank you,” he said, still flustered.

  “Of course,” Flora replied. “Just watch your steps.”

  She gave him one last look—kind, assessing, unmistakably maternal—then turned back toward the corridor she’d come from.

  Soliana didn’t move.

  She couldn’t.

  From behind the pillar, she watched Flora pause, her gaze drifting briefly down the hallway—as if searching for something. For someone.

  Soliana held her breath.

  Flora hesitated.

  Then, with a quiet sigh, she turned back.

  Eric was still fussing with the strap around the books, cheeks flushed, trying to look like he hadn’t almost dropped half a corridor’s worth of ledgers.

  Flora watched him a moment longer than necessary.

  “Actually,” she said, casually, as if the thought had just occurred to her. “Before you go.”

  Eric looked up at once. “Y–yeah?”

  Flora tilted her head slightly, eyes scanning the corridor behind him—not suspicious, just searching.

  “Have you seen my daughter?” she asked.

  “Her name is Soliana.”