Cassian’s POV
My stepmother was crying so hard that the entire west wing of the manor felt like it was suffocating under her grief. I hated the sound.
It was soft, yet it clawed at my ears like a scream. She was a human. A weak, broken one at that. But still, her sobs had enough power to pull Father from his council meeting with the clan heads and send him storming toward the dungeon like he actually gave a damn and maybe he did, Maybe she reminded him of the last human he cared about—my mother. The one who bled to death while he played leader to a kingdom built on ashes and guilt.
I wanted to follow him, of course. Not because I cared. That’s the part I keep telling myself. Over and over. Like a mantra, I didn’t care. Not about her or the way Elias looked at her when he thought no one
