Chapter 113 — The Lingering Shadow
Morning light filtered through the heavy obsidian shutters of the royal chambers, painting the room in soft crimson hues.
Cairis had not slept.
He lay on his side, propped on one elbow, watching Liora breathe. Her body was a map of the violence she had endured — bandages wrapped around her crushed legs and deep gashes, bruises from the suppression chains still dark against her skin. Yet even in sleep, she reached for him, one hand curled against his chest as if afraid he would disappear again.
Guilt clawed at him like living thorns.
Every cruel word he had spoken while under the artifact's influence replayed in his mind on an endless loop. The way he had mocked her love. The way he had called her "witch" with venom. The chains. The humiliation in front of the court. The way he had almost killed the only person who had ever made him feel whole.
