Chapter 13
Elara’s POV
The palace had begun to feel like a gilded cage, every corridor glistening with polished marble and trimmed with banners bearing crests I didn’t understand. It was beautiful, yes, but beauty could be suffocating when it doubled as surveillance. Guards’ eyes followed me wherever I went, polite but firm, their hands always resting near their weapons as though I were as dangerous as the nobles who schemed in whispered corners.
Despite the suffocation, I had grown stronger. The training with Captain Selene was beginning to shape me—not only my body but my resolve. My bruises were proof of progress, and the aches in my muscles felt strangely comforting. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t just enduring—I was preparing. Preparing for what, I wasn’t sure, but I sense
