NARINE'S POV
The moment Sargis stepped out and the door clicked softly shut behind him, I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
It felt like the breakfast had doused me with a splash of ice water. No... more like I'd been dunked in it headfirst. There was something jarring about sitting at that table, surrounded by those eyes, those unspoken expectations, those tight-lipped smiles and sharper words. I wasn’t naive, I knew I didn’t fit in, but today had shown me just how deep the divide ran.
Still, what haunted me wasn’t Queen Avaline’s cutting remarks or the weight of etiquette I’d failed to grasp, it was the dawning realization that Sargis had been protecting me from all of it. The rituals, pressure, and politics.
He’d been my anonymous shield.
And now, with one b
