Dravina POV
No matter how deeply I breathed, the knot in my stomach refused to loosen. All day I’d been pacing the fine line between the dread of the Council’s summons and a fragile, foolish hope that it might not be the end not yet.
In my heart, I already knew better. My connection to Malrik had always been a precarious thing, stretched thin over circumstances neither of us could bend. There was no future carved for us, not in this lifetime. I understood that truth.
And yet… a selfish part of me still wished for more. More time before Cassian’s shadow found me. More time before I’d have to disappear for Silverlight’s safety.
Aveline, with her quiet watchfulness, must have seen the unrest flickering through me. She coaxed me into the garden with gentle persistence, and I let her.
The
