The days bled together softer and slow, yet edged with quiet dread. Aria wandered the halls of the kingdom Draka had left her to protect, but her heart wasn’t calm. Every night, she lay in his massive bed, wrapped in his scent and silence, whispering prayers to the stars that he would come back alive.
She was alone, vulnerable and she knew it.
Despite the strength she tried to wear like armor, the absence of Draka carved a hollow space inside her. A space that filled with unease.
Something was coming. She could feel it like static on her skin.
She tried to dismiss the sensation. Maybe it was just fear, maybe the walls of the palace were simply too silent. But she couldn’t ignore the way the hairs on her neck stood at strange hours. The way shadows seemed to stretch longer than they sho
