As I walked through the halls of the castle, my footsteps echoed faintly against the stone floors. The lanterns on the walls cast soft, flickering light, but it didn’t do much to settle the weight in my chest.
I kept telling myself this was just another step, another task to cross off, but I couldn’t shake the tension crawling up my spine.
My mind was stuck on one thing, Mom.
It felt like forever since I’d seen her. I could still hear her voice from that night, trembling as she told me to run. And Jason? He’d swooped in, fed me half-truths, and dropped me here without answering any of the questions that actually mattered.
But maybe she could. The headmistress.
When I reached the tall, engraved door to her office, I hesitated. My hand hovered mid air, inches from knocking. What if she
