Leah
I didn’t see Samuel until it was too late.
I had just stepped into the shadowed corridor behind the main hall—still dusty from the road, still carrying the faint scent of waterfall mist and Kaelen’s coat—when the wheelchair rolled silently out from an alcove. The hallway was narrow, lined with tall windows that spilled late-afternoon gold across the marble. No servants. No witnesses. Just the soft squeak of wheels and the sudden drop in temperature as Samuel blocked my path.
He looked up at me with that same gentle, cultured smile he always wore in public—pale gold hair catching the light, ice-blue eyes soft with concern. The thin silk shirt he’d worn yesterday was gone; in its place was a crisp white button-down, sleeves rolled to the elbow, collar open at the throat. He looked ev
