POV: Nova
Nova hit the ground before she even knew she was falling.
One second she was rushing around the corner with a tall stack of folded blankets blocking her view, and the next, her foot caught the edge of the stone step and the world tilted sideways. The blankets exploded into the air like startled birds. Her knees buckled. She threw her hands out and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the cold, hard slap of the palace floor.
It never came.
An arm caught her. Hard and fast and sure, wrapping around her waist and pulling her back from the fall the way you'd snatch a candle before it hit dry wood. The grip was strong enough to stop her completely, her whole body suspended at an angle, one hand still stretched toward the floor she never reached.
She opened her eyes.
Thorne was looking down at her.
