49

CALIFF

Sighing, I looked down at the tray full of food. I was losing all the hopes I had. If there was one thing I kept holding on to and never let go, it was my marriage, and Shadow remembered me— us.

Given that she hated me and the anguish— I saw it in her eyes. And that meant something— she still felt something for me. Hope surged deep inside me again despite everything we went through.

“I’ll go first.” Zarah went ahead in the hallway.

I followed her and stayed behind the wall.

“So you’re still here,” Shadow said sarcastically. “Oh, right. You’re sleeping with His Majesty.”

“I know you’re hurting, Shadow,” Zarah told her calmly.

“You don’t know what I feel. You haven’t—”

“Lost someone dear to me? I do, Shadow. I’ve lived long enough to watch my parents die, and my brother die, and everyone I cared about. The men I loved and your mother, and the reason why I distance myself from everyone, from your father, because I’ve endured so many heartaches in my life.”

“So you want pi