Kael's POV
The forest swallowed me whole.
Branches clawed at my cloak, thorns tore through my sleeves, and the cold breath of the Deadwood pressed against my skin like a warning. It was supposed to be daylight, but the trees here grew so tightly together that only a sickly gray light seeped through, crawling across the ground like mist.
I had been walking for hours. Searching. Bleeding. Fighting. And all the while, my mind drifted back to the palace I abandoned.
They must hate me by now.
Damien especially.
The kingdom's most loyal guard vanished with the princess the council swore was corrupted. I could almost hear the whispers, Traitor. Kidnapper. Fool. And Damien… Gods, what must he think of me? That I betrayed him? That I chose Selene over the crown?
I did.
I had chosen her the moment she collapsed in my arms and whispered my name as though I were the last thing tethering her to this world.
