The silence that always filled the Castle was now replaced by the loud wailings of a little cat.
Zaliyah woke up not to the sound of the heavy rainfall or the smell of jasmine, but to a loud agonizing sound that felt felt like a rusted blade sawing through his skull.
He groaned, pressing his hands on his throbbing forehead. His body felt like it had been dismantled and put back together.
Every muscle was a dull ache, a lingering souvenir of how he was cut opened last night.
He had thought that surviving the pregnancy and birthing the child was the mountain peak, who would have thought raising the child would be more difficult?.
"Is there an alarm? Why is there an alarm in my head?"
"It's not an alarm, Your Highness," a maid whispered, hurrying to his side. "It is the Little Princess."
Zaliyah sighed, a long, weary sound that ended in a grimace as he sat up.
