CHAPTER 35.

ELARA'S POV

WOKE

My eyes fluttered open.

I was back in my chambers. The room was quiet, warm with morning light streaming through the window. Elara sat slumped in a chair nearby, fast asleep, her arms folded across her chest. She looked like she hadn’t slept well.

“Feel everything, but don’t let it ruin you. Love, but don’t lose yourself…”

I whispered the words, my mother’s voice still echoing in my mind.

I blinked back the sting in my eyes and looked around slowly. The room felt familiar, but different. Like something in me had shifted. Outside, I heard the faint sound of voices, the stir of life...