AIDEN POV
A few minutes passed, and the winter garden became something very close to being my safe haven too. Keres leaning near Perse with his arm along the planter, still watching her mouth like he was trying to behave and resented everyone involved. Thane beside her chair, big and silent and less far away than he had been an hour ago. Perse touching the dragon-blood hybrids with careful fingers, explaining graft points and root stress and bloom cycles while pretending she did not know every single one of us was listening like she was rewriting scripture.
I tried to follow the botany.
I did.
The hybrids were difficult, she said. Dramatic. Unstable. They needed warmth, patience, and just enough pressure to remember they wanted to live.
Keres opened his mouth.
“Do not compare yoursel
