Syria’s POV
“Please open this door. We need to talk. Stop hiding in there!”
Kael’s voice had been repeating those same words for days, yet I still chose not to respond. I stayed completely still. I remained curled up on my room's floor, allowing the silence to consume everything. I had spent nearly a week in that room. I had no desire to see anyone.
Then a different voice emerged, deeper and colder. Lok.
“Don't waste your energy on her,” he remarked from the corridor. “See what she is doing?! She doesn’t value anything you do for the kingdom! She isn’t helping you at all. Concentrate on your own people. Do not let your mother down.”
That made every part of my body tighten up. I closed my eyes and made myself take slow breaths, despite the tightness and pain within me. I despised how e
