Aria's POV
The flare happened without warning, three weeks into the pregnancy, during an otherwise ordinary afternoon in the healers' wing.
An apprentice had dropped a tray of glass vials, the crash startling me badly enough that silver light burst from my hands before I could think to stop it — brighter than anything I'd produced since the Blood Moon ritual, bathing the entire room in blinding light for one terrifying, uncontrolled second.
The apprentice cried out. Evelyn threw an arm up against the glare. And I stood frozen, hands still glowing, entirely unable to pull the power back the way I normally could.
"Aria." Evelyn's voice, careful, steady. "Breathe. Let it settle."
I forced my breathing to slow, and gradually, the light dimmed, retreating back beneath my skin until only th
