Chapter 295 – Morning In The Palace

• Ella
• I groan when I wake up, but I don’t open my eyes. Not yet. I feel like I just closed them ten minutes ago anyway – my poor eyeballs need more rest.
• Instead, I take a moment to feel my body from the inside out, to check in with myself and see what hurts, what feels good. I’m surprised to find that I can feel remnants of my mother’s gift running through me – what feels like little sparkling tendrils of sunlight, working through my limbs, perhaps healing me. I smile to think of it, smile to think of my mother giving me something that lasts after so many years of her absence.