Desiree POV
The moment my feet touched the arena ground, a strange uneasiness settled deep within my chest, curling tightly around my heart like an invisible hand refusing to let go, and no matter how hard I tried to focus on the celebration before me, on the people gathered to honor me, on the title I had just accepted, Zelda’s voice kept echoing in my mind with a chilling persistence that made my skin prickle.
You need to find her before he does.
The urgency in her tone had not been subtle, it had been sharp and desperate, as though time itself was slipping through her fingers, and now that I stood here, surrounded by my people yet feeling strangely alone, I could not shake the feeling that something bigger was already in motion, something I did not fully understand yet.
If Elias had
