Chapter 81

He's alive. The moment that understanding arrived, relief swept through me like a tide.

Someone had not died because of me. That realization finally pulled me free from the quicksand of guilt I had been sinking in.

"Friedrich."

I said his name quietly.

"Do you recognize me?"

The haze in his eyes cleared slowly, and then joy gathered in them.

Joy at being alive, perhaps. I held his gaze like an anchor and tried to pull my mouth into as steady a smile as I could manage.

"Say something."

"Your Highness."

The words came out raw and scraped — a voice left unused for too long. That was enough. I kept smiling and nodded.

He lifted his free hand slowly and cupped my cheek. Something damp pressed against my skin.

"Don't cry."

Ah. I was crying.

The words that made me realize it were, perversely, the very words that made…