Chapter 25 – Mira’s Secret
The palace gardens shimmered beneath the first blush of dawn, dew glistening on rose petals like scattered tears. Eira stood barefoot in the maze’s heart, the echo of flames still crackling in her bones. Her skin bore no burn, but her soul felt scorched—cracked open where Selis had clawed to the surface during the Trial by Fire.
She couldn’t sleep after what happened. Selis’s voice had almost drowned her, nearly overtaken her body in front of the council, in front of Alric. Only sheer will—and Mira’s sudden appearance at the edge of the ritual circle—had snapped her back.
The silence of morning was a thin comfort. She didn’t turn when she heard footsteps approach. She already knew.
Mira.
The woman who had become her only real ally in a court built on illusio
