EDINA POV
I woke to warmth.
Not the kind that seeped from thick blankets or a sunbeam pushing past the curtains—but a gentler kind. The kind that told you it was early morning, that time had passed quietly while you lay cocooned in dreams you could barely remember.
Only, I remembered everything.
The nightmare. The pain. The scream.
And him.
Baelorin.
Even now, the memory of his arms around me lingered like heat pressed into my skin. I hadn’t imagined it. I knew the way it felt when he held me—too firm, too careful, like he didn’t want to admit he cared. But he did. He’d been there. He'd been here.
So why wasn’t he now?
I stirred beneath the sheets, blinking as the soft light of dawn filtered into the room, pale and gold. The shadows were long, the air still cool against my skin, but there was a softness in the light that hadn’t been there before. Morning, then.
The bed was empty.
He hadn’t stayed.
I sat up slowly, back pressed against the carved headboard, pulling the sheets around me
