The moving trucks had already left.

Only Adrian’s sedan remained in the gravel lot.

The sky was a deep violet, the stars starting to appear over the pines.

Adrian had his arm around my waist.

Lila was asleep in the back seat of the car, wrapped in her pink blanket.

“Are you ready?” Adrian asked.

“I have been ready for a long time,” I said.

He stood up and pulled me to my feet.

He locked the heavy oak doors of the mansion for the last time.

He did not look back as we walked to the car.

I got into the passenger seat and turned to look at Lila.

She was breathing softly, her little hand resting on her stuffed rabbit.

Adrian started the engine.

The headlights cut through the dark gravel lot.

We drove down the long driveway, past the iron gates.

The gates closed behind us with a quiet, heavy thud.

The cold foundations of the empire were left behind in the dark.

We drove south, toward the morning sun.