Mira's POV.

I found Kael sitting instead of standing during training.

"You, okay?"

"Just tired."

He'd been saying that for weeks. I'd been pretending to believe it.

"Kael."

"I'm fine, Mira."

He wasn't. I knew it. He knew I knew it. But we didn't say it. That evening, he collapsed. Just fell. No warning. We carried him to medical. Cara examined him. "His heart," she said quietly. "It's failing."

"Fix it."

"I can't. This isn't an injury. This is the age. Time."

"He's not that old. ...