#Chapter 25 – Room to Lie

Lila By the time I made it back to my room, my clothes were soaked through, my muscles screamed with every step, and my patience had been wrung out like the shirt I’d just folded beneath the awning. The air in the palace halls was warm and dry, but I still felt chilled to the bone, like the rain had sunk deeper than skin. I pushed open the creaky door to my tiny room and stepped inside. I peeled off the wet layers one by one, wincing as the motion tugged at bruised skin. My shoulder was tight, and my ankle throbbed from the earlier misstep I’d pretended wasn’t a big deal. I sat on the edge of the narrow bed, the springs whining beneath me, and ran my hands over my face. Training was supposed to be hard. But this… was starting to feel like a slow unraveling. I didn’t know what frustrated me more – my fading endurance, or the fact that Damon noticed. It should’ve made me angry. And it did. But it also made heat stir low in my stomach. Which was inconvenient, as was the wa