The silence between them stretched like a wire pulled taut. Aria didn't flinch. She stood in front of Ronan, her eyes unwavering, her arms crossed, and her stance strong despite the cold wind whipping through the clearing.
"I didn't come here to fight," Ronan said after a long pause, his voice low. "I came to tell you the truth. The entire truth."
Aria tilted her head, skeptical. She still remembered the last time he said something similar and how his actions afterward had shattered what little was left of her trust.
"I betrayed you," he said, the words falling heavy between them. "I told the Council you were dangerous. That your silence made you unpredictable. I fed their fears because I feared you too."
Aria's brow furrowed, but she remained silent.
