Elena had been a spy in a foreign court, betrayed and left for dead in a dungeon that had no doors. The king’s own spymaster had found her carving escape routes into the stone with a spoon. She joined the palace not for safety, but for the challenge.
“You carry too much,” she said to Kaelen one evening as he bled from a gash in his side. She pressed her cool hands to the wound, and the blood slowed, then stopped. “Your blessing heals others. Let me heal you.” The Blessed Hero And The Four Concubine Princesses
Serafina forged his weapons and his courage. Lianhua healed his wounds and his heart. Elena guarded his back and challenged his assumptions. Ysara rooted him to the earth and reminded him that even heroes need to rest. Elena had been a spy in a foreign