Chapter 144

When I woke, the world was soft and muted.

The first thing I felt was the heavy pull of exhaustion in my bones, as if my very soul had been wrung dry and left to hang in the cold.

My fingers twitched against the sheets — smooth linen, faintly scented with lavender and smoke. The air around me was still, save for the distant murmur of voices and the low, reassuring hum of the kingdom’s heartbeat be