ALARIC

I went back to my room after making sure she fell asleep. I watched her sleep calmly and something shifted in my heart, more deeper and tightened.

When I stepped into my room. The room still smelled like her.

It clung to the air, to the sheets, to my skin—an infuriating reminder that no matter how much power she had ripped from my grasp, she still existed inside my space. Inside my head.

I stood near the balcony doors, hands clasped behind my back, staring out at the darkened grounds below. The night bowed to me out of habit, not loyalty. That alone told me how much had changed....