Nernia's POV
Recovery is not glorious.
It's quiet.
Slow.
Lonely.
My bones ached in ways I couldn't describe. Every breath reminded me I was still alive. My fingers trembled when I tried to hold a spoon, and my legs barely supported me when I stood.
Kaelen was always there.
He never said much. Just sat with me. Read to me. Held me when the nightmares came. He helped braid my hair when my arms were too weak and glared at the healer when they told me I wouldn't be able to ride for a few more weeks.
He never kissed me again.
Not since that night he told me I was the only thing real.
But he didn't need to. The way he looked at me every time I opened my eyes said everything.
Still, something had changed. I could feel it.
There were more whispers in the hall. More guards. The council had returned. The war may have ended, but politics hadn't. And Kaelen, once constantly by my side, started disappearing for hours at a time.
One afternoon, I caught the tail end of a conversation outside my chamber door.
"She doesn't need to know yet," someone said in a hushed voice. "Let her recover. The contract is binding either way."
"She'll find out soon," another replied. "She's not stupid. And Kaelen...he won't take this lightly."
I didn't know what they meant.
But I knew it was about me.
And it involved Kaelen.
---
Two Weeks Later
I was finally strong enough to walk to the garden on my own.
I hadn't expected to find Lady Meridelle there.
She was beautiful in the kind of way that made you hate yourself—polished, elegant, poised. And she was speaking to Kaelen. Her hand on his arm. Her laugh too soft and too intentional.
I froze behind the hedge, unseen.
"I will make a good queen," she said smoothly. "And your people deserve someone who doesn't cause wars just by breathing."
Kaelen didn't respond.
"I heard about Nernia's injury," she continued. "How unfortunate. She must be... fragile now."
"I will not marry you," Kaelen said sharply. "This is the last time I'll say it."
"But the treaty says otherwise."
A pause.
Then Kaelen's voice, low and bitter:
"Then damn the treaty."
I stepped back, my heart pounding. The pieces were falling into place faster than I could stop them.
A royal engagement.
To me.
To save the kingdom.
And Kaelen had found out.
---
That night, I stood in front of my mirror, looking at the girl I no longer recognized. My shoulder was scarred, my eyes darker, my body thinner. But I didn't feel fragile.
I felt furious.
I had given my life to the kingdom, my loyalty to Kaelen, and now I was being used as a pawn. Again.
There was a knock.
He entered.
We stared at each other in silence.
"I know," I whispered. "About the engagement."
His jaw clenched. "I didn't want you to find out like this."
"And you? You were going to fight it?"
"I already have."
I took a step forward. "Kaelen, tell me the truth. If I wasn't engaged to you—if there wasn't a treaty—would you still choose me?"
He didn't answer.
And silence is a kind of answer, too.