CHAPTER EIGHT“Can you hear me?”

The voice was soft, gentle. My eyelids fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was an old man with gray hair leaning over me. His wrinkled face looked kind, but his eyes carried worry.

“Where… where am I?” I asked, my throat dry.

He smiled faintly. “You’re in your room, my Queen.”

My room.

I turned my head slowly, and realization hit me like a slap. Elara’s room. The silk sheets, the carved golden mirrors, the faint scent of lavender oil ...