Roisin
After returning to the palace, I finally had a moment to breathe. Not that breathing helped much. The air in my room felt too still, like it hadn’t been touched in hours. But inside me, the storm hadn’t settled. My heartbeat hadn’t slowed since the livery. I could still feel the panic tightening around my ribs; the unpredictable jolt of the mare, the loose saddle, the gut-wrenching moment of free fall. And beneath it all, that question still gnawed at me like teeth at my spine:
Was it really an accident?
I leaned back against the door and closed my eyes, trying to center myself, but the silence made the unease louder. That field, that moment, the way Olivine’s eyes had scanned the horizon like he didn’t trust it either, it all kept circling back like a tide I couldn’t escape.
T
