Lulu

I didn’t fall asleep straight away after Caspian’s words lingered in the air.

The room was quiet, broken only by our breathing—two different rhythms, both trying to settle after what happened in the labyrinth garden earlier. I stared at the ceiling, but my thoughts drifted far away, wandering through the uncertainty of my own future.

“You asked how I knew,” Caspian finally said quietly. “I knew because of Niobe.”

I turned my head.

“Niobe?” My voice was barely a ...