The healer's wing was quiet, except for the crackle of the hearth and the steady rhythm of Aria's breathing.
Rowan sat beside her cot, his elbows braced on his knees, his hands wrapped around hers. He had not left this spot in two days. He slept close to her and refused to eat. Elara had stopped trying to convince him.
Aria had not woken since the battle.
She lay beneath a thick wool blanket, her silver hair spread across the pillow, her face pale but peaceful. The heavy swell of her stomach rose and fell with each breath. Elara had checked her every few hours, the baby was fine, strong, and kicking. But Aria's body had burned through reserves it didn't have. The shift and the force of Nova's awakening, it had taken everything.
"She'll wake," Elara had said that morning, not for the fi
