Climbing the stairs in front of her, Nebora didn’t dare raise her head. She could still feel the burn of Aria’s slap on her cheek, but the most painful thing was her wounded ego. Now that she had calmed down, she indeed realized that her actions from earlier were too childish.

She stole glances at Aria as they went up the stairs, intrigued by the young woman. They were probably around the same age, but Aria’s body was marked from her years as a slave. She had scars all ...