Ronan
In the dream, everything was quiet.
Not the sharp silence of tense corridors, no, this was a soft quiet. It wrapped around the body in a warm embrace.
Lila sat beside me on a low bench, her knees tucked under her, firelight flickering against her cheek. We weren’t in her chambers or mine, but some imagined in-between. A place that smelled like cedar and safety.
Her eyes were clear and focused. No fever. No pain.
She smiled, small and tired, but with a kindness I yearned for. “You don’t always have to hold your breath around me, you know.”
I tried to speak, but the words caught in the back of my throat. She reached for me before I could find them, one hand lifting to cup my cheek, slow and certain like she’d done it a hundred times before.
Her fingers were warm and callused. Fa
