The walk back to my room was a blur of shadows and silence. Sir Edric guided me through the labyrinthine passages, his presence a silent anchor in the darkness, but I registered none of it. My mind was still in the alcove, still suspended in the space between Kaelen's question and my halting, uncertain answer.
What do you want?
The question echoed in the hollow chambers of my skull, refusing to fade. No one had ever asked me that. It was not as if the Church had shaped and molded me into their perfect saint, Selene. Not as Rosalind, managed and dismissed by a father who saw only the family name. Not in either life had anyone looked at me and demanded not my obedience, not my utility, but my desire.
The door of my room closed behind me. Sir Edric's footsteps retreated down the corridor. I was alone.
