Alana's POV
I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the usual restlessness I felt from the pressure of my circumstances or the uncertainty of my future. No, tonight it was something deeper. Something darker that gnawed at me from within.
I lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, my mind consumed by the brutal justice Adrian had delivered to Evangeline. The maid. The traitor. I could still hear the faint echoes of her cries in my mind, even though I hadn't seen her since. The guards had taken her away, and Adrian's wrath had been final. The price for betrayal had been steep, and there would be no mercy. He had made that clear.
But as much as I tried to push the thoughts away, I couldn't help but wonder about the nature of his actions. Was he truly evil? Or was he just a product of his past, a man shaped by the harshness of his world?
I turned onto my side, curling into the blankets as I tried to make sense of the questions swirling in my head.
