Aria’s POV

I sat in the corner of the small hut, my knees pulled to my chest, arms wrapped tightly around them as if I could hold myself together. The embers from the hearth flickered softly, casting ghost-like shadows on the walls. But nothing chased away the ache in my chest.

Lucien.

I could still see the look in his eyes when he told the guards to take me away—cold, distant… not the man I fell in love with.

But what shattered me most wasn’t just the rejection. It was knowing he’d taken the one thing I held onto through it all—*the locket*. My only piece of my mother. The...