efore I even spoke the words. I found Kael in the dining ha

" I asked, my

is expression u

dy last night, Kael. T

t it didn't reach his eyes. "Elara, you were dreaming. You wer

it made me question my own senses. But th

insisted. "She

d to me, taking my hands in his. "There was no one." He was lying. I knew it

"You're still shaken. I shouldn't have left you alone." His arms were a

was silver, crafted in the shape of a feather, with a tiny sapphire at its base. "My informant found this. It was being

ers. Hope, bright and painful, surged through me. All my suspicions, all my fe

ra," Kael said softly. "I

earnest face, and the last of my doubt crumbled. He wouldn't

us. If he were truly betraying me, wouldn't I feel it? Wouldn't his pain, his guilt, ec

hispered. "I was

forehead. "You have nothing

the way the other nobles looked at me-a girl with no family name, living under the protection of the powe

spat on the ground near my f

elding me from her glare. His eyes, fixed on the woman, were co

ed away. Kael turned back to me, his expression softening. "Don't listen to th

en I was beside him. As we continued our walk, a carriage adorned with

od ran

's study. She was beautiful, dressed in silks that shimm

us, her eyes locking onto Ka

. "Father is expecting you for dinner. He wants t