Before ascending the stairs, I turned to Jorum. "You can return now."
"Are you sure?" Jorum asked, and I nodded. I should have sent him back already, but my mind had been a storm. I had actually forgotten that he was still with me until he had almost run into me.
"I'm sure. I will find my way back on my own," I reassured him. His nervous gaze felt weighted with a sense of impending doom, but he nodded, turning to leave. As he walked away, I couldn't help feeling a tinge of guilt. But he was safer away from this, and I needed to confront this alone.
Ascending the stairs, I couldn't deny the opulence of the palace. It was a strange contrast against the exterior wasteland and the horror stories surrounding it. The entire way, I couldn't shake off a strange feeling, a sense that something monumental was about to happen.
On reaching the final corridor, a grand door stood at the end of it. Without hesitation, I pushed open the door and found myself face-to-face with her.
