The night air was cool, crisp with the scent of pine and distant rain, but Elysia barely noticed it.
Her mind was still tangled in the weight of Malvoria's words, replaying them over and over again in her head, pressing into her chest like something solid, something inescapable.
Malvoria had looked sad when she spoke about her past.
That alone was enough to shake Elysia to her core.
She had seen Malvoria angry, amused, arrogant—but sad? That was new. That was something Elysia didn't know how to deal with, didn't know how to name.
It made her stomach twist uncomfortably, made something inside her tighten with the kind of concern she wasn't ready to admit to.
And she didn't like that.
Not one bit.
As they walked in silence through the thick trees, the only sounds around them were the rustling of leaves, the distant hoot of some nocturnal creature, and the steady thud, thud, thud of Elysia's own heartbeat pounding far too loudly in her ears.
