Lena's POV
I left Elara's chambers feeling like I'd been slapped.
The conversation had been brief, but her tone had carried a sharpness I had never heard from her before. Not at me, anyway. There had been something cold behind the words, something that made me feel as though I had been measured and found wanting. As I walked down the corridor, her expression replayed in my mind again and again.
Had I said something wrong?
The thought made my stomach tighten.
I forced myself to keep walking toward the servants' quarters, trying to steady my breathing. The castle corridors were quieter now, the torches along the walls burning low, casting long shadows that seemed to move as I passed.
Too much had happened in a single day. Kaelen's dismissal. Malakor collapsing. And her talking down at me like I was nothing.
She had never spoken to me like that. Never looked at me like I was nothing more than a servant who had overstepped.
We were friends. At least I made her think that way.
