Stella
Two weeks passed, and I tried—truly tried—to treat them like ordinary days.
I went to council meetings. I signed decrees. I listened to petitioners complain about border taxes and grain shortages as if my head hadn't become a haunted house. I kissed Abby's cheeks until she squealed. I smiled for servants in the corridor. I let Caspian pull me into quiet corners and touch me however he liked, like he was reminding me I was still here.
Some nights, I even slept.
Other nights, I lay awake with my eyes open, staring at the canopy above our bed and waiting for the invisible moment when the future decided to claw at me again.
Serenity stayed unusually quiet during those hours. Not absent—she never left—but contained, as if she understood that too much commentary would push me over th
