Kora’s POV
The days following the trial passed like smoke through my fingers—visible for a moment, then gone before I could make sense of them. I was free, technically. The council hadn’t dared to sentence me without proof of danger, but their silence was louder than any punishment. Wherever I walked, whispers followed. Wherever I turned, eyes shifted away just a heartbeat too late.
I had become a legend—half miracle, half monster.
Edward did his best to keep me shielded from the noise. He stationed guards outside our quarters, increased the warding sigils, and barely left my side. But even when he smiled, even when he brushed his thumb against mine under the dinner table, I saw the worry he tried to hide.
He didn’t say it aloud, but I knew what haunted him: the fear that I would lose
