JOVANI’S POV
I didn’t expect to see her outside so soon.
Not after everything Maela and Lira said. Not after the way she curled into herself like a creature born of silence when I went to check on her. But there she was.
A slim figure wrapped in a borrowed cloak, boots too large, her pale hands twitching at her sides like she didn’t know what to do with them. She walked the southern courtyard like someone who had stolen freedom and expected to be punished at any moment. But no one stopped her.
A few of my warriors- the young ones glanced her way as they passed with buckets or gear. They didn’t spit. They didn’t jeer. One even offered a polite nod.
Ellie blinked at it like she didn’t recognize the gesture.
I stood in the shadow of the eastern archway, arms crossed as I watched her tra
