Selena.
The moment I closed the door to my chamber, the silence pressed in heavier than the ceremony grounds had just moments before.
It was strange how quickly celebration could twist into tension, how a coronation meant to replace my father's legacy could dissolve into whispers the moment I walked in alive.
I leaned against the door for a heartbeat, letting myself breathe, though my thoughts refused to settle into anything resembling calm.
So much had happened in a single morning that it felt as though time itself had bent unnaturally. I had stopped a coronation that was never meant to happen without me.
I had faced elders whose eyes carried accusation rather than celebration. I had watched Loretta collapse into tears so quickly that it almost would have been convincing, had her gaze not flickered toward the crowd first, measuring their reaction before deepening her sobs.
Her tears had been too careful, meant to fool me, only if she knew.
