Kali's POV
The ballroom emptied like the tide pulling back, heels clicking, boots echoing and robes swishing around. The doors slammed shut one after the other until an unhealthy amount of silence swallowed the room. The moment every other sound died down, I kinda missed the chaos that existed earlier. At least then, there was something to distract me but now that the entire place has cleared out, it was just me and my thiufhts, and an ugly truth I didn't want to face at all.
The second trial was finally over, but it didn't come with relief. Instead, it came with a gnawing feeling that things were about to become worse from here on out.
I should’ve felt relief. Instead, my chest burned like a cage too small for my lungs. My breath hitched in my throat, and no matter how hard I tried,
