Serena's pov
I was walking back to my room after another supervised walk through the halls, with my mind still full of the image of Alejandro breaking that guard's arm, when I heard voices coming from the throne room.
The doors were open, which was unusual, and torchlight spilled out into the corridor like liquid gold, painting the stone floor in shades of orange and red.
I should have kept walking. I should have gone back to my room and closed the door and pressed my back against the headboard and pretended I had not heard anything. That was what survival looked like. Keep your head down, make yourself small, and do not invite trouble. But something pulled me forward, something that felt like curiosity and fear and that quiet part of me that had been waking up ever since I arrived at t
