Chapter 71: A Revelation
"That's her."
"Didn't she die? I swear someone said they found her bones."
"Odi? She came back? Again?"
"Why does she always come back?"
"I heard she was cursed."
"No, protected. Witch-blessed or demon-touched, depending on who you ask."
"Maybe she sold her soul."
"Maybe she doesn't have one."
The gossip hit her before the door did. Like smoke curling under a doorframe, seeping through every crack—sly and choking.
Odi didn't stop walking.
She kept her head high, shoulders squared, steps deliberate as stone.
But the voices followed her like flies.
"She doesn't even look bruised."
"She doesn't look normal."
"She's not even limping. No one comes back from where she went without a limp."
"I heard she rides with royals now."
"Please. She probably serves them. Or something worse."
Odi turned the corner, past the line where sunlight faded into stone-shadow, and entered the courtyard. The hush that fell was deafening.
Someone dropped a rag.
