Chapter 18

Queen Elaine.

King Liam’s Castle – The Western Wing.

The girl is shaking.

I kneel beside her, my hands gliding over her shoulders as she sits wrapped in a thick woolen blanket, soot smudging her cheek. Her eyes are wide. No girl should look like this—hollowed by fear, worn to the bone by flight.

"Drink," I murmur, lifting a goblet to her lips. Warm water in the cup to fight her chill. She sips slowly, the water trembling in the cup. "You’re safe now."

She nods once, though I doubt she believes it. She looks like a child who stopped believing in safety long ago. I wonder what our world has come to. Stealing virgins. Killing them. A Queen. A woman pouring devastation on other women.

Neil stands in the corner, arms folded, his brow darkened by worry. He’s too still, too quiet. My son never lingers in silence unless the world is crumbling in his mind.

When the girl finishes drinking, I turn to him. "She’s exhausted. She needs rest, not questioning."