LOGINSANDRA'S POV.As I walked down to my chamber, my steps echoed softly against the stone floors, but my mind was louder than any sound around me.Elder Kael.That name kept scraping against my thoughts like a thorn buried too deep to pull out easily. He has been a thorn in my flesh ever since Roland died. So persistent, irritating, and too sensitive for my liking. Every time I thought I had ignored him enough, he returned with his stubborn gaze and that irritating sense of righteousness.I needed to deal with him..But how?I turned possibilities over and over in my mind, but none felt complete. None felt cruel enough, or clean enough. By the time I reached my corridor, irritation had coiled tight in my chest...Then I saw someone standing by my chamber door.I slowed.From afar, I couldn't place who it was. The figure stood too still, like a shadow that has learned how to breathe. My guards were nowhere in sight. That alone annoyed me. As I moved closer, the dim light caught his face.
SHARON'S POV.I jumped out of bed the moment I heard the knock.My heart was already racing before my feet even touched the floor. I didn't bother checking the mirror properly; I just grabbed a clean dress, slipped into it, and hurriedly smoothed my hair with my fingers. My mind has only one name.Morris.The dream was still fresh in my head. My mother's voice still echoed, as if it had been etched into my bones."Stay inside. He will come."I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and opened the door with a hopeful smile already forming on my lips.It died instantly.It wasn't Morris.It was the housemaid, standing there politely with a tray of food in her hands."Good morning, ma," she greeted softly."Oh," I said, forcing a smile. My heart sank so fast it almost hurt. "Good morning."She stepped in, placed the tray on the small table near the window, and adjusted the cover. The aroma of the food filled the room, but I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore."This is your breakfast,
SHARON'S POV.I was standing in the middle of a forest.That was the first thing I noticed, the silence. Thick. Heavy. The kind that presses against your ears until your heart starts beating too loudly in your chest. Tall trees surrounded me, their branches twisting together like secrets whispered but never shared. A pale mist hung low, brushing against my ankles as though the earth itself was breathing.I looked down at my feet. Bare.My heart skipped. I knew I was dreaming, yet everything felt too real. The chill of the air. The scent of damp leaves. The faint ache in my chest that had followed me even into sleep.Then I felt it.Someone was standing in front of me.I raised my head slowly, dread curling in my stomach.A woman stood a few steps away, facing me. She wasn't threatening. She wasn't smiling either. She just stood watching me.My breath caught.She looked like me.Not exactly, but enough to make my knees weaken. She had my nose. The same curve, the same delicate slope.
SANDRA'S POV.I managed to get to the door on legs that still trembled, because Eron had awakened in me something sweet and I refused to be quiet. The kind of pleasure he stirred wasn't ordinary. It clung to my skin, slowing my thoughts and making the world feel distant and unimportant. I reached for the handle, breath uneven, senses dulled by heat and arrogance and power.The door opened. I was glad I didn't forget to lock the door this time because the way the person knocking was banging on the door, if it was opened, he would have pushed me and seen Eron and me together. But whoever it is will not cough because it is what I want that I get. Power is so sweet I opened the door and there he was.Elder Kael stood in the doorway like a man who had come prepared for war. His shoulders were squared, his jaw set, eyes sharp with judgment and something else, defiance, perhaps. The corridor framed him harshly.Anger detonated inside me.Not the kind that flares and fades. This one settled
SHARON'S POV.Happiness enveloped me the moment I read his text."I love you, my sweetness."I read it once.Twice.Thrice.Then the fourth time pressing the phone to my chest as though I could absorb the warmth of his words straight into my heart.I smiled through tears, a shaky hopeful smile that felt like sunlight after endless rain. That one sentence did what hours of crying couldn't. It gave me hope. Real hope. I was certain that with this message, everything would be okay. I know Morris loved me so much and he wasn't faking it when he said it. The joy in me knows no bounds.I wiped my face, took a deep breath, and stood up straighter.Everything would be fine.I can't wait for him to come back, hug me the way he used to, and also buy me things because aside from the fact that he loved me, he was so generous.That belief stayed with me as I stepped into the corridor that afternoon, my heart beating fast with anticipation. I had dressed carefully looking so beautiful not to impres
SHARON'S POV.When Morris did not pick my call, I knew deep down, in that quiet place where truth lives that this has gone too far.I stood there in the hallway, phone pressed to my ear long after the call had ended, listening to nothing but the hollow echo of my own breathing. The hall felt louder than usual. Too many footsteps. Too many voices. Too many people who would notice if my face cracked or not.I lowered the phone slowly. No. I couldn't let anyone see her majesty like this.I adjusted my gown, forced my shoulders back, and began to walk away from the council wing. My steps were steady, but inside, everything was falling apart. I avoided the common areas, taking the longer corridors, slipping past servants and guards who bowed respectfully, unaware that their queen was barely holding herself together.I didn't want greetings.I didn't want sympathy of any kind.Most of all, I didn't want anyone to see the fear in my eyes.By the time I got to our chamber, my chest ached lik







