Reya’s POV
Leena, sunshine Leena who had always shipped I and Ashriel together. She was staring at me like she was staring at something she had buried and dug back up with her bare hands.
I stiffened. Her son, a thin boy with a rattling cough, leaned against her side. He looked like he could barely stand.
Ashriel stood just a few steps away from us. His face went blank when he heard her, like he’d wiped the board clean inside his head. Without so much as a flicker of recognition, he turned to one of the healers and muttered something about checking the west wing. Then he walked out the door, leaving me standing there with the past breathing down my neck.
For a heartbeat I just stood there.
“Who are you talking about?” I asked, my voice sharp, but my fingers were trembling at my sides.
