The night had not yet loosened its hold on the palace.
Ariana stood near her bed, her breath uneven, her fingers trembling as they hovered behind her neck.
She could still feel it—the heat, the lingering burn, the pulse beneath her skin like something alive.
Then—
Pain struck again.
Sharper.
Deeper.
Ariana gasped, her body stiffening as the sensation flared at the back of her neck, spreading upward like fire licking along her spine.
It was not brief this time. It held—intense, insistent, unyielding.
"No… no, not again—"
Her hand flew to the back of her neck, pressing hard as if she could suppress it, force it back into silence.
The skin there felt unbearably hot, almost as though something beneath it was trying to surface.
"What is happening to me…?" she whispered, panic creeping into her voice.
The heat pulsed again.
Stronger.
Ariana stumbled toward her mirror, her movements rushed, unsteady.
