Nevara
I woke to the low murmur of voices near the windows.
The room was dark except for the lamps burning beside the bed and the muted glow spilling through the curtains from the garden below. The celebration had ended. No music drifted through the open balcony doors, and the corridors beyond our room had fallen unnaturally quiet.
My wedding dress still covered me, though someone had loosened the bodice and removed the veil. The silk lay rumpled around my legs, a strange reminder that this was supposed to be my wedding night.
Instead, my head ached, my mouth felt dry, and Thoren was speaking to Kael in a voice meant to keep me asleep.
“How quickly is it spreading?” he asked.
“Faster than we can track,” Kael answered. “The broadcast reached nearly every territory. People saw where he
