The palace court was unusually quiet, as though the very stones and trees carried the weight of what had been happening for days. The sky was dim, painted with streaks of dull gray clouds, and a faint chill ran through the air. For everyone in the kingdom, it was another ordinary day under the rule of Alpha Gonzalo and Luna Vanya. But for one soul tied to the old tree at the palace center, every second stretched into an eternity of pain.
Liora had been bound there for what felt like endless nights, her once proud self now hunched, weakened by hunger, thirst, and the excruciating torment inflicted daily. Her clothes clung to her damp skin, torn in places, caked with blood, dirt, and the sour smell of rotten eggs still stuck to her hair and belly. She was still bleeding.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, not just from the cold but from the waves of pain rippling through her womb. Each tightening, each sharp stab inside her, made her think of the life inside slipping away.
