CHAPTER 112
Grace lingered long in the corridor after Parkston's footsteps faded. His retreating silence pressed heavier than any word he might have spoken. She wanted to call after him, to tell him that Juliet's kiss meant nothing, that it had startled her more than him. But she could not summon the words. Instead, she let the stone walls hold her still, her mind pacing where her body would not.
When she finally moved, she dragged herself back toward her chamber, every step echoing with a hollow weight. The corridors seemed longer than usual, the torchlight more brittle. She paused at her own door, hand resting on the carved wood, as though opening it might unleash the storm of thoughts she held in.
Inside, the silence was sharper. She sat on the edge of her table and pressed her fingers against her temples. Why did she kiss me? Juliet's face burned in her memory, her cousin Jonah's glare standing sharp behind it, and Parkston's eyes searching the deepest of all.
