Chapter 166

Alaria

The mornings had begun to blend together, gray light, careful silence, and the quiet pacing of footsteps outside my door that reminded me I was never truly alone.

It’s been weeks, maybe months since we’ve been here. At this point, I genuinely lost count of how long it has been.

My body felt heavier these days, my strength flickering between sharp bursts and exhaustion. The doctor’s tonics helped little; the only thing that steadied me was Anastasia’s small voice when she spoke to me, unaware of how much I needed her calm to keep from breaking.

That morning, Bianca came in without her usual sharpness. She carried a tray, but she wasn’t watching me, her eyes were fixed somewhere past me, as if she were listening to something only she could hear.

“You need to eat,” she said, setting the tray down. “Your body is growing weaker by the second.”

“I’m not hungry,” I murmured, staring out the window. The snow was just beginning to gather outs