/-Maleek-/

Pain.

That was the first thing I felt — heavy, suffocating pain that weighed down on my chest like a boulder.

I opened my eyes slowly, and for a moment, I didn’t know where I was. The ceiling above me looked foreign. The air smelled faintly of herbs and clean linen.

“Ow!” I groaned as I turned my head slightly, wincing at the ache that shot through my ribs. That’s when I saw her.

Zara.

She was sitting in a chair by my bedside, her head resting on her folded arms on the ...