CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

{Maya's POV}

I woke up with a groan and immediately regretted it. My head felt heavy, as if I had been swimming underwater for a long time and only now surfaced…

The ceiling above me went in and out of focus, wooden beams fading into a haze before settling again. My whole body ached, but it was the kind of ache that came with a dull throb, not sharp agony. Like being hungover after a night of drinking.

For a moment, I thought I was back in the training ground. The forest, the dirt, the look on Anya’s face when I lunged. But then I blinked, and the room around me clicked into place.

White curtains swayed from the windows with a faint herbal scent. And beside them were shelves lined with jars of dried plants and powders. The bed beneath me was softer than anything in the barracks. ‘I could get used to this…’

This was the infirmary.

I shifted, shaking slightly at the tug in my leg.

‘Ow...’

A bandage stretched across my thigh, tight but not painful… Not too painful at least.

“Ughhh, what