INICIAR SESIÓNElara VeyneThat was when I heard the sound of metal striking metal from the courtyard below.The sharp noise traveled through the gallery, followed by soldiers’ voices and the scrape of boots across dirt.I stopped near the opening between two columns.The training yard lay just below, partially enclosed by the older wings of the palace. Some men waited near the walls, others watched, and two stood in the center.One of them was Kian.Without his coat.The sleeves of his shirt were rolled to his elbows, leaving his forearms exposed, and he held a training sword in one hand.Even from above, it was possible to see how much he had changed.Not only because he now had muscle where there had once been prominent bones and stretched skin.His entire body seemed firmer.Heavier.More... present.The soldier in front of him advanced.Kian moved aside.The sword passed close to his shoulder, and Kian responded immediately, blocking the second movement and twisting his wrist with enough precis
Elara VeyneOver the next few days, I discovered that avoiding Kian was much easier when he seemed equally determined to avoid me.In theory, that should have been convenient. Naima wanted me to stay away from him, and I needed her to believe that her little display of insanity during tea had had some effect. Kian, for reasons he still refused to explain, had already been finding increasingly efficient ways to prevent any attempt I made to examine him.Everyone wanted exactly the same thing.Almost touching.Maybe we should arrange a dinner to celebrate such harmony.In practice, however, there was an unpleasant difference between choosing to distance yourself from someone and realizing that person seemed perfectly capable of going on with their days without you.Kian had begun taking up the duties he had spent years unable to fulfill, and the change was happening quickly enough that sometimes I had to stop and remember what he had been like only a few weeks earlier.First came small
Elara VeyneThe realization entered my mind slowly, heavy and painful.For years, I had built my revenge around one name.The Caldris.Gideon.It had been that simple.They were the monsters, and I knew where to find them.I knew who to hate.Maybe I had needed it to be that simple.Monsters were easier when they had an address.But what if they didn’t?First Light came back to me again.Children being watched.Questions about blessings.Nobles choosing them.Some children leaving.Others staying.My mouth grew even drier.What if they had not been choosing children?What if they had been choosing gifts?The thought made nausea rise suddenly.No.I couldn’t rush to conclusions.I couldn’t turn suspicion into fact just because everything fit too well.Naima made a small gesture with her hand, and the two servants released me.So suddenly that I took a step sideways before catching my balance.The first thing I did was pull my arms away.My wrists throbbed.Red marks were already appear
Elara VeyneTime inside that room seemed to freeze.The people around me disappeared from my attention, and my mind found something that should not have been there.An old voice.Gideon asking questions.Taking notes.Again.Let’s see how long it takes.My fingers went cold at the memory.No.I clenched them.That monster was not in the room with me, so why did it feel as though I was there again?“I… don’t know what that has to do with me.”My voice came out calm.I had managed to fake that much.Naima did not look impressed.“No?”“No.”She approached again, close enough that I could smell the faint perfume on her clothes.“There are families that would spend more money searching for someone capable of restoring a body than they would spend buying an entire Nythrium mine.”My stomach twisted painfully.For one second, I thought everything fit together.Saref.Caldris.Maybe… they were partners.Maybe this woman knew everything.Maybe—No.The thought stopped.If Gideon knew I was al
Elara VeyneThe second slap hurt more because this time I saw the hand coming.For a few seconds, everything narrowed down to the sting spreading across my cheek and the pressure of the hands holding my arms.The two servants kept me restrained as if I weighed almost nothing.That was what infuriated me most.I wasn’t pretending to fight. My muscles hurt, my shoulders burned, and I could feel my wrists twisting inside their grips every time I tried to pull away. Even so, the two lupines barely had to adjust their stance.It was like trying to escape from a wall.Except walls usually had the courtesy not to crush your wrists.Naima lowered her hand.I expected something on her face. Anger, satisfaction, maybe that ridiculous agitation of someone who loses control and only realizes it afterward, but there was nothing.Her breathing remained steady, her hair perfectly arranged. Not even the sleeve of her dress looked out of place.That unsettled me more than the slap.If she had been yel
Elara VeyneEveryone in the room went still.Ah.That would probably go on the list of things I wished I could take back immediately after saying them.Naima did not react, did not shout or do anything for several seconds, processing what I had said.I watched the anger form slowly in her eyes, so controlled that it seemed more dangerous than any explosion.“Know your place, you insolent human.”The word human came out with so much contempt that I finally understood there was no longer any attempt at politeness between us.Her eyes grew colder.“You are nothing more than a toy.”My stomach tightened.“Something new. Foreign. Fragile. Maybe that is exactly what he needs after years of being treated like an invalid. Someone who makes him feel strong.”She continued, taking a step forward.“But he is a wolf,” she continued. “A prince. He needs someone capable of truly standing beside him when this curiosity ends. Someone of his species. Of his level.”I breathed through my nose.I should







