The ceiling in Merlin's room was cracked near the left corner. Not a wide split. Just one of those old fault lines that had never been fixed, probably because the dorm magic kept the structure together.
Elara stared at it for a while.
The silence pressed gently at the edges of the room, thicker now that he was asleep. Not heavy. Not cold. Just settled. Like dust that had finally stopped drifting.
She had never stayed in someone else's room . Not since her younger years. Not since the silence in her own home had made her want to slip outside and never come back.
This was different. There was quiet here too, but not the kind that hurt. Just quiet that wrapped itself around them like a pause.
Merlin slept like someone who didn't trust the sleep would last.