Demyan’s POV
The palace was never silent, not even at night. The halls breathed with whispers of servants, the watchful eyes of guards, and the endless pulse of secrets carried through its stone walls. Yet as I moved, cloaked and masked, each step felt heavier with intent.
It wasn’t duty that guided me tonight. It wasn’t even a reason. It was the unbearable weight pressing against my chest the thought of her, alone, after what she endured.
Pearl.
No one else in this vast empire knew the truth her eyes carried. To them she was “Perin,” the accused, the traitor boy. But to me… she was the girl who had stumbled into my life with fire in her spirit and fragility in her heart. I knew she was innocent, yet even innocence was powerless against the cruelty of chains.
I stopped outside Rowan’s
