The Verdesaint palace walls loomed, casting long shadows as Isabella, dazed and disoriented, was carried to a horse carriage. She felt Casmir's chest rise and fall as he took each breath, each step made her head throb in pain, it was only when she felt Casmir's arms shifting away from her did she realize that he was passing her to someone else.
Casmir, who had orchestrated this treacherous plot, met her with an unreadable expression. Her vision blurred, and for a fleeting moment, she didn't appear to recognize him. The uncertainty in Casmir's eyes betrayed the torment of his own betrayal.
As they reached the guard he grabbed hold of her legs, Casmir's voice, soft but not without a trace of regret, reached her ears, "Don't worry, Isabella. You'll be safe."
In her hazy state, it was as though she looked through a gauzy curtain, her perception distorted by the remnants of a drug that had left her vulnerable.
