Bella sat motionless at the table. Only after Morgan's footsteps had completely faded around the bend in the third-floor stairwell did she take a thumb-sized silver disc from the inner side of her shawl.
The disc's surface was smooth, its edge inlaid with an exceedingly fine, hidden Ouroboros pattern that was almost invisible in the candlelight. She pressed it against her palm and slowly traced three arcs over the pattern with her fingertip. Then she closed her hand and waited quietly for about twenty seconds.
The disc grew faintly warm in her palm. She did not open her hand to look at it, merely felt the temperature gradually stabilize before slipping it back into the hidden pocket inside her shawl.
The sound of an iron door closing came from the corridor. Douglas had returned from the East Wing Tower. His boots approached across the stone floor, paused somewhere along the way, then continued away toward the main building's entrance hall.
Bella listened until those footsteps had vanished completely before rising and walking to the window.
Beyond the palm-sized window lay a gray, murky sea. The clouds hung low, sealing away the moonlight. The water around the Northern Reef Zone was a shade darker than elsewhere, with reef tips appearing and disappearing in the tide like a row of teeth breaking the surface.
She watched for several seconds, then reached out and drew the curtains shut. Their edges had been washed nearly white, with loose threads hanging from several spots. She twisted those threads together with her fingers, wound them once around her fingertip, tied a knot, then let go and returned to the table.
Rodolphus's footsteps came from next door several minutes later. He pushed the door open and glanced at the overturned empty cup on the table.
"Finished talking?