SERA

Three days of fragile peace, and I was starting to forget what war felt like.

Kael didn't mark me. He didn't come to my bed demanding anything, didn't shut me out, didn't retreat behind the stone-wall composure that had defined him since I arrived. Instead he did something far more disarming. He let me in.

Small things at first. He left his study door open when I was nearby. He ate breakfast at the table and saved the chair beside him instead of across from him. He asked about my training ...