Chapter 11: 11

The infirmary fell into a suffoca ng quiet the moment Tristan walked out. Only Liora’s broken cries seeped beneath the door raw, feral, scraping along the hallway like the sound of something wounded and cornered. But Tristan didn’t pause. He crossed the courtyard with long, unhurried strides, each step an act of defiance against whatever guilt she thought she could pull from him. He didn’t feel sympathy. He didn’t feel regret. What he felt was far heavier, far older than anything...