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The Walk Back

作者: Ricky_writes
last update 最終更新日: 2025-11-03 20:50:59

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Seven

Ethan’s POV

The climb back toward the palace felt longer than usual. Not physically. Just weighted.

The city noise faded behind us, replaced by the quieter hum of the upper district. The palace walls rose above everything else, clean stone catching the last of the torchlight.

No one spoke.

Not Alvarez. Not the guards. Not Maya.

I walked beside her, matching her pace, not touching her but close enough to. It was easier this way. Still. Balanced. Neither of us is forcing anything.

But my mind wasn’t calm.

The woman in the square had been the first to say it out loud:

The East will come for you.

She didn’t mean the kingdom.

She meant Maya.

And even though Maya spoke clearly, even though she stood in her choice, the words stuck in me like something lodged too deep to pull free.

When we reached the courtyard gates, the guards opened them instantly. I didn’t need to announce myself. They recognised Maya too. They knew to make space.

Once we
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