Kai's POV
The pain was a living thing, a serpent coiled around my ribs, its venom a constant, dull fire in my veins. Every breath was a negotiation, a careful drawing of air that did not stir the beast. The healers spoke in hushed tones, their words soft and meaningless around the real truth: I was broken, a king without a sword, a protector who could not stand guard. The four walls of the infirmary were a gilded cage, and I was the trapped animal pacing in my mind.
Then I saw her.
Through the window, a sliver of the world I could not touch, she stood on the training grounds, her silhouette a stark cutout against the hard earth. She was not alone; a half circle of cadets surrounded her, their bodies mimicking her stance, her voice too faint to hear, carried on the wind, a steady rhythm,
