Moments later,

Author

The fire burned low, casting long shadows across the walls. Aria stared into the embers, her heart hammering slow and hard against her ribs. She had told him so much- about her life before, about waking in this world, about the dungeons and the wars. But she had never told him the truest thing about herself. The thing she had never said out loud to anyone.

“There is something else,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Something I have kept hidden. Even from you.”

Malphas turned to her, his gaze soft and steady. “You do not have to tell me. Not if it hurts.”...