Elara POV:
The words spill faster. “I felt it. The strength. I know I made a mistake, but—”
“No,” he cuts in.
One word. No warmth or indulgence and silence drops hard in the courtyard.
“You don’t belong here,” Caelan continues, voice steady and cold. “You chose to leave, that door closed the moment you did.”
Sonia’s pride flares, defensive and sharp. “Because I found someone more suited for my future.”
Caelan gives one short, humorless laugh. “And yet you’re here.”
She pivots, trying another angle, one she thinks will hook him. “Do you remember the eastern ridge?” she asks quickly. “Above the eastern forest. The place you used to go when you wanted to think?”
I feel myself go still. It’s a place that belongs to memory and quiet, and she’s trying to make it dirty.
Sonia’s voice tur
