MILICENT
The first thing I became aware of was the sound of voices, low at first, muffled like they were caught under water. My body felt heavy, every bone aching as if it had been broken into pieces and stitched back together with molten fire.
The voices grew clearer.
“She cannot be moved. She’ll collapse if you take her out now,” Zayne’s voice. He sounded frustrated yet meek, like he was trying to bury under authority.
“She’s my daughter,” a familiar voice thundered. My father’s voice. The sound vibrated through the walls. “No one who shares my blood is weak.”
“General—” Xander began,
“I will not hear excuses from children,” my father cut him off, steel in his words. “She will be taken home immediately.”
I wanted to groan, to tell them all to shut up because their voices rattled
