Lena's POV
The room was very still.
Elara's hand was still at her cheek. My chest was heaving. The words were already out and there was no taking them back. This was the moment I had been carrying for years, not weeks, not months. Years. And now it was in the room and it was ugly and nothing like the version I rehearsed in my head in the dark.
I took a breath. And I told her.
"I knew Kaelen before the palace. Not as a lover at first. We were kids. Playmates. Do you understand that, Elara? Do you understand what that means? We ran the same streets. We hid in the same alleys. We shared food when there was not enough to go around. He was mine before he was ever yours."
Elara said nothing. Her face was pale. Her hand was still at her cheek.
