Valtira.
Zarek’s voice stumbled from his throat the moment he saw me standing there, as if the sight of me had strangled whatever words he intended to say.
“Valtira…” he started again, his voice cracking under the weight of shock. “You’re here… why are—”
I didn’t let him finish. I couldn’t.
My lips trembled, my breath caught in my chest, and every emotion that was capable of slicing a heart open fought to claim space inside me. Disgust. Pain. Jealousy. Rage. They all rose at once, each one sharper than the last, each one threatening to break me.
Minutes before this, I had been sitting alone in my new chambers, drowning in grief strong enough to choke a mountain, when Lyssandra walked in with that cold gleam in her eyes and announced that Zarek wanted to see me.
It had been strange, u
