Everything had changed. Everyone had changed.
Loss did that to people. Time didn't heal wounds like these—not really. Not the kind of pain that settled deep into the bones and stayed there. Everyone carried their own weight, quietly, until the end.
Riona entered the funeral hall clad in black, her arm linked with Thorin's. He stood beside her not just as a companion, but as her chosen partner now, official and unwavering. Behind them walked Florian, taller than her now, though still radiating the same quiet intensity.
None of them cried. Not outwardly. But Riona felt the heaviness inside her, like her heart was carrying a stone.
Her emotions were tangled and sharp-edged. She had spent years hating King Valentin. That hatred had been her foundation. But something had cracked the moment he'd defied Elder Alfred to let her escape.
And now, after hearing the truth from Lady Maris, that hatred had nowhere left to anchor itself.
