Something New From Zenon

{Elira}

~**^**~

I paused outside Zenon's study door, my heart hammering so loudly I thought it might echo down the hall.

With a soft breath to steady myself, I lifted my hand and knocked, my knuckles barely tapping the polished wood.

A beat of silence followed before his cold voice cut through:

"Enter."

I turned the handle, stepping in quietly. The room smelled of leather, old books, and that distinct scent I'd come to notice around him—oud and black pepper.

It wrapped around me, unsettling and oddly familiar, reminding me that this was the same man who'd caught me at the clearing before I hit the ground.

It was a reminder that there was much I didn't know about this man.

Zenon sat behind his broad desk, a stack of neatly arranged documents at his elbow, his gaze fixed on me with that same unreadable look.

"Sit," he ordered, voice low but commanding.