I slipped out from under the heavy duvet, careful not to wake Demetrius as he slept with the peaceful heaviness of a man who had finally found his match. The cold stone floor was a sharp wake-up call, grounding me as the remnants of that dark dream—the voice, the shadow—clung to my skin like a thin layer of frost.
I wandered into my small personal kitchen, hoping to find something quick to settle my stomach, but a heavy sigh escaped me when I opened the cabinets. They were still bare, a stark reminder that I was still settling into this life as a Queen. Hunger won out over my desire for solitude, so I pulled my cloak tight around my shoulders and made the long trek down the winding stone stairs to the main castle kitchen.
The silence of the castle felt heavy, the kind of stillness that o
