#Chapter 26 – King’s Favor

Lila The shirt shouldn’t have meant anything. Just a piece of soft black fabric folded into the corner of my drawer. Just a borrowed item, returned by mistake. That’s what I told myself when I found it again that morning, tucked beneath a clean blouse. But it still carried his scent. And now it was a problem. Rumors had already been festering since the night Damon caught me half-naked in the changing room and gave me that shirt to wear. I should’ve made sure it found its way back to him. Burned it, maybe. Anything but let it linger like a dirty little secret. I hadn’t worn it again, not really. But I hadn’t gotten rid of it either. And now, apparently, someone had seen it. Because as I stepped into the training area that morning, the air was thick with tension that had nothing to do with combat prep. "She’s not even trying to hide it anymore," someone muttered near the lockers. "Did you see what she was folding earlier? Black shirt. His size." Whispers trailed me