KIARA’S POV We kept waiting for the troops to arrive but they never did. Morning turned to noon and noon turned to sunset. In the end, we decided to rest and plan afresh the next day.Leaving a few guards to guard the gate, we retired to the mansion. I plopped on the bed and stretched my aching arms and legs. My head was spinning with possibilities. Was Ariana planning a surprise attack? Had she decided to use some other strategy to defeat us?I was too engrossed in my thoughts and didn’t realize when Layla thrust a bowl of soup into my hands. In my distracted stupor, I lifted the spoon to my mouth and was about to take the first sip when a force caused the spoon to fly out of my hand. The next moment the bowl fell on the floor and shattered.“What the hell!” I exclaimed and jumped to my feet. My mouth remained open and my eyes widened when I saw Layla in Nivaan’s grasp. Before I could say anything he slit h