DESDEMONA

I couldn't move.

I stood in the middle of Alaric's study with the small portrait still clutched in my hand, staring at the open doorway. The room was silent, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been there only moments ago. My heart hammered against my ribs as I walked toward the door and looked into the corridor. There was no one.

Only the long passage stretching into darkness, the torches burning quietly against the stone walls.

I closed the door and leaned against it.

Muna

The name continued to echo inside my head, and it hit me that Alaric had once loved this woman, even when...