Serena's pov
Three days passed after Doña Beatriz's visit, and my body was finally starting to heal. The shaking had stopped, the color had returned to my skin, and I could walk from my bed to the window without feeling like I was going to collapse with every step I took. The cold was still in my bones, but it was fading, and the cough that had rattled my chest was getting quieter.
The boy Mateo had come to see me once. He was shy and quiet, with his mother's hand on his shoulder. He had thanked me in a small voice, and I had told him that he did not need to thank me, that I was just glad he was alive. He had hugged me before he left, quick and fierce, and I had felt something warm spread through my chest.
The nobles still whispered when I walked past, but something was different now. S
