The palace felt strange without the crown. The robes felt heavy on my shoulders in memory, but the chains around my heart were gone.
The court whispered, of course. Some in awe, some in disapproval. But I no longer cared.
Cassian held my hand as we walked through the gardens—my gardens, yet no longer my prison.
"I feel… free," I murmured.
"You are free," he said.
And with him beside me, I finally believed.