I had spent hours rotting in the gilded cages of the palace, playing the part of the obedient subject to the Queen and her council. My tongue felt coated in the copper tang of lies as I fed them exactly what they wanted to hear: fabricated memories of fealty, strategic suggestions that played into their arrogance, and enough deferential bowing to satisfy even Elaris’s bloated ego. They thought they had me shackled by their suspicion, but they were the ones wearing the blindfolds.
Every minute I spent away from Ivy was a violation of the natural order. She was my survival, my purpose, and the only light worth burning for. And yet, she was currently being guided by a scavenger—a nokken of a different sort, someone who fed on data rather than blood.
I paced the perimeter of the royal garden
