Moments later,

Author

The fire had burned down to glowing embers, casting soft gold over the room. The house was quiet - no footsteps, no questions, no urgent knocks at the door. Aria sat with her knees pulled to her chest, her back resting against the sofa, and Malphas sat close enough that their shoulders brushed, giving her space but never pulling away.

She had carried this truth like a shard of ice in her chest for so long she had forgotten what it felt like to breathe without it. Now she looked at him - at the man who had walked through hell to find his family, who had...