Selena pressed her hands together in her lap, her gaze dropping to the blanket beneath her. The forest was quiet now, the echoes of the warriors' departure fading into the night. She drew a slow breath and finally spoke, her voice low but steady.
"I have always felt indebted to Silas," she began. "Years ago, he saved me from being killed by rogues. I believed he was loyal—to me, to my family, to the kingdom. I gave him my loyalty freely. I never imagined he was a snake, waiting for the moment to strike, to sting me when I least expected it."
Her voice trembled slightly, but she kept her gaze fixed on the dark treeline, as though the trees themselves had ears.
"After my father died, I trusted him even more. He stood beside me at my father's funeral. He held my hand while I buried him. I remember thinking… at least I still had him. I placed the kingdom in his hands—and his father's—without question."
