Chapter 28
Elara’s POV
The carriage wheels rattled violently as they crossed the cobblestones leading back into the capital. I could taste copper in my mouth, the tang of blood refusing to fade. My arm throbbed where the blade had cut me, my ribs ached from the force of the fall, and my head spun from loss of blood and exhaustion. But none of it compared to the fire inside me.
The attack had been deliberate. They’d known who I was now—or at least suspected. The ambush hadn’t been the work of common thieves. Too organized. Too precise. They had wanted me silenced.
I pressed my hand against my side, feeling the sticky warmth seeping through the hastily wrapped bandages. Every bump of the road made me grit my teeth, but I refused to groan. Not here. Not in front of the guards or the drive
