Arielle sat before the heavy dresser, the flickering candlelight casting long, jagged shadows against the stone walls. Every muscle in her body ached from her last training. Her knuckles were bruised, and her skin felt tight with exhaustion.

But she reached up to unbind her hair. She didn’t wince. She leaned into the pain and told herself it was a sign of progress, a reminder etched into flesh that she was rebuilding herself from the ground up.

She wasn't just patching up a broken soul or ...