Liora woke to the soft light of morning pushing through the curtains. Her body ached, but the pain was dull now, not sharp like before. The healers had done what they could, and though her strength was still slow to return, she was healing. Her hand rested over her stomach out of habit. The child was quiet today. It gave her peace.

The air in her chamber was still, except for the faint sound of the guards outside the door. The events of the last days played in her mind—Corvin’s arrest, ...