Trial of the Beta

Camilla’s POV

The morning tasted like ash before it even began. I barely slept, not because of the pain in my arm or the throbbing in my shoulder, but because my head would not quiet down. The words of the messenger kept ringing in my ears. *Banished.* As if decades of loyalty could be scraped off like dirt from boots. It was as if I had been nothing more than a guest here, waiting to be shown the