Chapter 197 Who

• The morning felt softer than most, gilded with that fleeting sweetness that comes after a night of restless sleep. Light filtered through the curtains in gentle strokes, painting the room in shades of gold that seemed almost too tender for a palace burdened with politics and wars. While I freshened up, Sargis busied himself in the kitchen, and the faint, comforting sounds of him preparing breakfast slipped beneath the door. When I finished, I ate while he took his turn at the normality of the day, the ordinary rhythm of it was something I clung to more than I wanted to admit.
• He returned just as I was setting the plate aside, his hair was still damp, and his shirt clung to the line of his chest in a way that made my breath catch. Without ceremony, he leaned down, pressing a slow kiss to my lips, before whispering against my mouth about handling the new dynamic with the witches. And just as I thought that was all, his palm landed firmly against my backside in a playful smack. The sting bloomed hot through my skin, startling a laugh from my lips. He grinned at the sound, and that laughter followed him as he strode to the door. But when the latch clicked shut behind him, it faded almost instantly into the hush that settled once the room was mine alone.
• Now, I was alone again with too many truths and burdens that refused to loosen their grip.