Kaius had barely slept. His body ached, not from battle wounds or exhaustion from the trial but from something far worse, her absence. He had trained until his muscles screamed for mercy, pushing himself beyond his limits in the gym, hoping that sheer physical torment would dull the pain clawing at his soul. But it hadn’t. Nothing had. Even as his knuckles bled from hitting the punching bag too hard, even as sweat dripped down his body, he could still hear her voice, still see the devastation in her eyes, still feel the ghost of her touch on his skin.
And now, as he sat at the long, empty breakfast hall, barely touching the food in front of him, it took everything in him not to look in her direction. Raya was there, sitting at the opposite end, her back stiff, her face pale, her hands tre
