EMILIA’S POV

My body was numb.

Their voices echoed around me, sharp and cruel, but they sounded far away now—like I was hearing them from under water. My breath came in short, broken gasps. Every word they’d said kept replaying in my head like a curse.

The man whose mark you bear… the man you’ve been with… killed your real parents.

No.

No, it couldn’t be true.

My heart felt like it was being torn apart inside my chest. My vision was blurry from tears I didn’t even realize were falling. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

I heard footsteps. My father’s voice, cold and steady.

“Well,” he said, “now that...