EDINA POV
How I managed to wear the same gown for five days was beyond me.
The wine stain had long since dried, now a sour blotch near the hem. The fabric clung to my skin, heavy with dust and old sweat, and my hair—gods, my hair felt like it could snap off in strands. I hadn’t taken a proper bath since the wedding day, which felt like a dream someone else had lived.
But I kept the dress on.
Maybe it was rebellion. Maybe it was grief. Maybe I didn’t know who I was without the weight of that silk and guilt dragging me down.
Today marked the first time I’d be returning to the Twilight Court since Baelorin claimed his Absolute and took me away.
I heard voices echoing from the hallway as I stepped out of my room—low, tense, male voices.
I followed them.
Rhaenan’s voice rang out first. “We leave at once. I don’t want to stay here longer than I have to.”
He sounded strained. I stepped closer.
He was standing in the hall with Baelorin, the two locked in what looked like a heated—but restrain
