CYPRUS’ POV
My eyes flutter open, the world around me swimming into focus. I blink, trying to shake off the fog in my head. The ceiling above me is unfamiliar yet oddly familiar. Softness beneath me… a bed. I’m lying on a bed.
Wait… Am I back in the kingdom?
Cassandra…where is Cassandra?
A voice, calm and cold, cuts through the haze.
“Welcome back, Cyprus.”
I whip around, heart pounding, and there she is. The one voice I hoped I’d never hear again.
“Queen Lucinda…” I mutter, my voice heavy with dread.
She stands there, poised in front of the open window, her eyes fixed on me, a smile playing on her lips. That smile—it's not the kind of smile that brings comfort. I can see the darkness behind it, the malice that I know all too well.
"I guess you still recognize me," she says, her v
