LIORA’S POV
I woke up angry.
Not the quiet, simmering kind of anger I’d grown accustomed to. This was hot and sharp, directed at one person.
Lucas.
The way he’d stood there, all calm authority, actually teasing me. Helping me up from the ground. Letting me close enough to touch his skin.
And then that look. That cold, dismissive expression when he’d told me I should have taken the death sentence.
Like I was nothing.
Like I meant nothing.
I’d spent half the night replaying that moment, his words echoing in my mind. ‘You should have taken the death sentence.’
What was that supposed to mean? That I deserved to die? That my life wasn’t worth the trouble of saving?
The door opened and my three maids filed in, moving around the room with efficiency. They didn’t look at me, didn’t ackno
