Sairis's POV
Sairis pushed the door open and stepped into Candice's room, but he stopped the moment his eyes fell on her.
Candice lay on the bed, her body still beneath the covers, her face pale in a way that did not look normal. It was not the quiet paleness of sleep. It was something deeper. Something that made his chest tighten at once.
Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was wrong.
Each breath came out in short, uneven gasps, like her body was struggling with something it could not fight.
Sairis felt a sharp pull in his chest. "No," he murmured under his breath as he stepped forward.
He turned quickly to Henrietta, and the look in her eyes made everything worse.
Fear.
Coming to the palace had been a mistake, and deep down, Sairis knew they were going to pay dearly for it.
"We should not have brought her here," he whispered, his jaw tightening. "Not like this."
