The icy stone of the East Wing floor offered no comfort as Kaelia Vance lay curled on her side, her breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps.

The Aether-burn was no longer a creeping, insidious decay. Without the Sun-Tear Amulet shielding her womb, the disease had erupted into a roaring i

The freezing isolation of the East Wing was almost a relief after the suffocating heat of the Spire.

Kaelia sat on the edge of her narrow, uncomfortable bed, a small leather satchel open beside her. Her movements were slow, entirely mechanical. Every time she reached for an object—a spa

The creeping dawn brought no warmth to the East Wing. It bled through the frost-rimmed windows, casting a sickly, pale light over the desolate stone corridors.

"You have to hold on just a little longer," Kaelia whispered, resting a pale, trembling hand over the swell of her stomach. Ben