"I would have paid dearly for that two years ago," Lilith said, the words carrying more weight than she let show on her face. "I'd still pay it now."
Elowen's lips softened into a smile that carried both kindness and quiet certainty. "You already paid it," she told her gently.
"Not with coin, not with blood. You paid it by setting aside your pride and holding onto patience instead.
That was the price, Lilith. And it bought you a boy who makes rooms honest just by walking through them."
Lilith tore another piece of bread slowly, her hands moving almost on their own as her thoughts kept running deeper.
"Do you see the way he touches fear?" she asked finally, her voice even but carrying something sharp beneath it.
"He doesn't erase it, doesn't try to trick it into disappearing, but he keeps it from hardening into something ugly.
The twins still feel the edge of it, but he doesn't let it carve itself into their faces."
