Aria’s POV
The world didn't come back all at once. It returned in small, jagged pieces. I could smell medicinal herbs, a distant storm, and a throbbing ache in my temple that felt like a pulse. My eyes were heavy, glued shut by a fever that had dried the very breath from my lungs.
When I finally managed to crack them open, the room was covered in the dim, amber glow of a single lamp. I blinked, trying to clear the fog. My body felt heavy, like it was made of lead, and my skin still prickled with a lingering, burning heat.
That was when I realized I wasn't alone.
A woman was sitting in a chair pulled close to my bedside. She leaned forward, her hands busy with a bowl of water and a cloth. In the shadows, I thought it was one of the maids, maybe Bella, but as she moved into the lig
