Hearts of Gold but Forbidden to Love

Previously

…As I finally turned to leave, the moon casting long shadows behind me, I knew that I had planted a seed. A seed of understanding, of empathy, in the barren soil of fear. It was a dangerous gamble, speaking so directly to the Queen about the very thing she sought to eradicate. But Hemlock’s dying words, Kael’s probing questions, and the Queen’s own visible pain had converged, urging me forward. The echoes of the past, it seemed, were finally beginning to stir.