{"Not all prisons have bars. Some are made of memory, sealed in silence, waiting for the right voice to unmake them."}
The first tremor jolted me from sleep. It was not loud at first and just a distant groan, a slow grinding of stone against stone, like something ancient turning in its slumber. I sat up at once, every muscle tensed, my senses crackling with Abyssal magic before my mind fully caught up. The air in the Pearl Castle was heavy, thick with salt and old magic that clung to my skin like oil.
Caelan stirred beside me, blinking. "What was that?"
