The hallway was quiet, the kind of quiet that feels heavy, almost suffocating. I could hear our footsteps echoing softly against the stone floor as Ciara and I walked side by side, the tension between us palpable.
We were headed to my room, a place that had become both a sanctuary and a prison in the past few days. The silence between us was thick, filled with everything we weren't saying but should have.
The air was cool, the castle's stone walls holding onto the chill of the night. I could feel the weight of Ciara's presence beside me, so close and yet it felt like there was an ocean between us.
She hadn't said much since we left the infirmary, her usual confidence replaced by a strange hesitance that made me uneasy. I wasn't used to seeing her like this uncertain, almost vulnerable.
As we walked, I found myself stealing glances at her, trying to read her expression, but she kept her gaze fixed ahead, her jaw clenched as if she was struggling with something.
