The natural thermal springs of the Arcas palace did not merely wash away the grime of a three-day coma; they dissolved the very fabric of Keira's reality, one suffocatingly luxurious drop at a time.
The pool was massive, carved entirely from milk-white marble and bordered by gold-inlaid murals that blurred beneath a heavy, fragrant shroud of jasmine-scented steam. Keira floated on her back, watching the vapor swirl toward the vaulted ceiling. Her muscles, wound tight from an afternoon of throwing crown princes across study rooms and dodging lethal magic circles, finally began to loosen.
"A natural hot spring inside a private residence, she thought, a bitter, amused smile touching her lips behind her newly constructed mental defenses. The scale of wealth in this place isn't just aristocra
