[ALARIC]

Nothing surrounding me mattered anymore. Not at this moment. My world had narrowed to the young woman sitting on the couch.

I couldn’t stop staring at her. She sat there, a small, tentative smile gracing her face as she spoke softly to Lan, who was beyond tears now, clinging to her. I was paralyzed, speechless. I didn’t know what to say—didn’t know what to do. The shock was a physical weight.

“Alaric?” Lan’s voice, thick with emotion, pulled me from my trance. She was ...