The first thing I felt was cold. A thin sheet tucked over me, the sterile scent of antiseptic biting at my nose. I wasn’t in Brayden’s room anymore.

I blinked hard, disoriented, until the faint hum of monitors reminded me, I’d fainted.

The voices outside my door sharpened into argument.

“She collapsed in front of the doctors! How can someone that fragile run an empire?” Leonardo’s voice.

“Fragile?” Clara’s tone cracked like a whip. “Zoe is stronger than both of ...