Nevara
By the time we made it back to the castle, my cheeks hurt from smiling.
I didn’t know when that had happened.
Somewhere between lemon cupcakes and Michelle’s enthusiastic ramble about the virtues of wax seals, I’d stopped overthinking and started… enjoying myself.
Not completely. Not freely.
But enough.
We parted ways at the stairs—her off to deliver her “very important stationary haul” to her room, me trudging toward mine with frosting still clinging to my thoughts.
A hot shower was the only thing I wanted. Warmth, steam, silence.
And maybe five minutes without questioning everyone’s motives.
I peeled off my clothes the second the door shut behind me, stepping under the spray with a hiss. Muscles screamed, then sighed. The bruises from training still throbbed under the sur
