C222 THE COST OF NOT BEING BROKEN

The first thing Aria learned was this:

Survival did not make her safe.

It only made her visible.

The Blood Court appeared to return to order, but the palace no longer breathed the same manner. Corridors felt narrower. Voices dropped after she departed. Eyes followed her—not with hatred, not with fear, but calculating.

That was worse.

She sat alone in the sun intended for honoured guests