“In the shadows of truth, silence screams loudest.”
SINDY — Point of View
Pain was the first thing I felt.
It pulsed through my side, sharp and rhythmic, like a cruel reminder that I was still alive. Then came the chill, the icy brush of sheets against my bare skin, sterile and cold. My eyelids fluttered, struggling against the harsh glare of fluorescent lights above. I blinked again, squinting. The world tilted as I tried to sit up.
“Careful,” a voice warned.
A palace medic leaned into view. His face was smooth, unreadable, like a statue carved by someone who had never known compassion. “You lost a lot of blood. You were found unconscious just outside the garden wall.”
Garden wall?
Panic stirred in my chest. Images flared in my memory—darkness, the scent of iron, a low growl too gu
