Lin wasn't here.
Everybody was waiting.
The heiress, the new CEO, the supreme leader, the one who sat at the top of the Roen Tower - Lin Roen.
The girl with all her fears sealed tightly in her chest. The girl who was afraid. The lonely girl.
She was simply not there.
———
The corridors outside the hall were unusually silent. Not the poised quiet of order, but the brittle hush of something waiting to break.
Abe stood just outside the entrance, arms crossed too tightly over his chest, his normally boyish face drawn with tension. Elune stood beside him, fidgeting. Her eyes darted between shadows that hadn't moved in hours, and her smile hadn't returned since she last saw Lin.
Cain was already inside, pacing slow, deliberate loops behind the row of council seats. His presence anchored the space, but even he couldn't keep the unease from bleeding into the room like damp.
