Aria’s POV…..

They made me scrub floors that reeked of old iron and vinegar, until my knuckles bled and my palms were raw. The servants — pale, hollow-eyed women and men who moved like ghosts — watched me with a mixture of scorn and pity. They dressed me in plain rough wool and braided my white hair into a tight rope that tugged at my scalp. My hands shook the first time the basin slipped from my fingers; the metal clanged against stone and I swallowed my shame.

The Evil King had ...