THORNE POINT OF VIEW.

Morning came quietly.

The light crept through the curtains of the healing chamber, pale and soft, touching the stone walls and the edge of the bed where I lay.

My leg still throbbed, dull but steady, wrapped tight with herbs and bandages. I stared at the ceiling for a long time before it finally hit me.

Aria hadn’t come to visit me, not once since they carried me in yesterday.

I didn't feel the presence that I had grown used to feeling even when she said nothing at ...