Epilogue—Penelope

I woke up to the sound of whispers just outside my door.

They weren’t loud, but they didn’t need to be.

The words were clear enough.

“Torin’s awake.”

At first, I stayed still.

I just lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, and let the silence fill me.

Then slowly… a smile pulled at my lips.

He’s awake. Finally.

My fingers brushed across the edge of the sheet, grounding me in the moment. I’d waited so long for this—for him. And now the wait was over.

They probably think it was some miracle. Or that some old prophecy fulfilled itself and brought him back.

But I know better.

The potion of Khora never left his body.

I made it for him. For us both. It was a mistake that Seraneth was able to drink from it.

The Khora was mine, like he is.

They don’t know what I gave up. What I remembered. What I risked.

Freya doesn’t know. Poor girl. She had gone through a lot.

She thinks just because Seraneth lived inside her, she had some right to Zalkhar in this life. She had right to Torin. It