a's

She stood straight, stiff, and perfect, like a sculpture made of ice and glass. Her black skirt didn't have a single wrinkle. Her

ore she was on me. "Who are you?" she asked s

om walking all day in shoes that had seen better years. I didn't have the energy

r creaked open behind me. I heard f

he hallway like a swi

.. roommat

crisp and clean, with a silver tie that shimmered slightly under the ceiling light. His hair looked freshly comb

ow and tilted her head. "Roommate?

Kael adopting a stray animal made mor

d my eyes and walked past them both. Her perfume clung to the

n't care. My room was just a few steps away. I could a

ehind me. His voice wasn't angry, just irritated. Like he wa

d, crusted with dried mud and city dust. I had been walking all day.

, leaving them by the wall. My socks

the palace floors," I

osed it softly behind me. Then I leaned back against it

from earlier clung to me like smoke. I felt like a useless mess, and no

a shower.

eyes and scarlet hair sticking out in odd directions. I didn't even look like someone who

ay off my skin. I closed my eyes and let it run down my back, soaking away the sharp words and

my damp skin, but it was warm and comforting. I padded

d back at me. I s

nd wa

tant, like someone who gave orders instead of taking them. And that woman. She didn't seem like a

was

tly... who the he

arding schools. The kind who handed out punishments with a smile and could ruin your

he moved. The way the apartment seemed to

real thing about the man I was living with. Not what he did for work. No

cked up

en I opened the browser and typed his name. Just out of curios

l W

lts load

aw made my e

ews headlin

e millions. One of the youngest rising leaders in t

lin

oll

ar

God. Wh