The moment Raya stepped back onto the training grounds, she could feel the shift in the atmosphere.
Whispers. Stares. Speculations.
She forced herself to keep walking, her spine straight, her face unreadable, but she could hear them, fragments of conversations slipping past in hushed tones.
“She was gone for three days…”
“Sick, my ass. You know what it really was.”
“Maybe she cracked under the pressure.”
“She’s King Rufus’s daughter, there’s no way she would—”
“She’s weak. You don’t disappear for three days and come back like nothing happened.”
Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t react. She couldn’t afford to. Right now, her only focus was getting through this damn camp, getting through the next few weeks without drawing more attention than necessary, without giving anyone ammunition
