Shunya decided to stand up before anyone could stop him.
It was not bravery.
It was not defiance.
It was curiosity mixed with fear.
He waited until the room was quiet again. No guards. No Naomi. No Vikoria hovering with worried eyes and gentle hands. Just the soft light of late morning and the slow creak of the building settling around him.
He stared at the edge of the bed.
It did not look far.
Just a short distance from where he lay to the wooden floor. A normal step. Something he had done thousands of times without thinking.
His body did not agree.
The moment he shifted his weight forward, pain answered. Not sharp. Not sudden. Heavy. Dense. Like gravity had doubled without warning. His ribs protested first, a deep ache that spread outward, wrapping around his torso like iron bands.
He paused.
Breathed.
In.
Out.
Slowly, he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
