After what felt like an eternity staring at the ceilingI had memorized a hundred times—I finally lifted my heavy body from the bed.
Carefully, I untangled myself from the two sleeping figures beside me. Levina had her small hand curled around the front of my shirt, while Amaya's arm was snugly wrapped around my waist. I moved slowly, gently peeling their warmth away from me. They stirred slightly but didn't wake.
I rose to my feet and padded across the room, putting on my shoes. I opened the door, careful not to make a sound, and slipped quietly into the dim corridors of the castle.
It wasn't that I couldn't sleep because of Amaya's presence beside me. She wasn't the cause of the restless night. No, the truth was simpler—and bitter.
Sleep just didn't come to me anymore.
Whenever I closed my eyes, the silence devoured me. It wrapped itself around me like a thick fog, pressing in on all sides. It reminded me of the hollowness inside—the gaping emptiness I'd been ignoring.
