The village slept in silence, but Elara's cottage was alive with shadows. She sat by the window, fingers curled around a mug of cooling tea, her mind restless. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him again—the storm-grey eyes, the vow whispered between dying breaths.
A knock broke the stillness.
Her heart lurched. No one visited at this hour. Carefully, she rose, hand lingering near the small dagger hidden beneath her apron. When she opened the door, he was there.
Kaelen.
The knight leaned against the frame as though it were his rightful place, silver armor glinting faintly under the moon. His smile was faint, worn by exhaustion, but his presence was a storm contained—quiet, yet brimming with danger.
"You should be resting," Elara said, trying to mask the sudden flutter in her chest.
"And leave the woman who saved me wondering if I kept her secret?" His tone carried the faintest trace of amusement. "I gave you my vow. I thought it best to assure you—face to face—that I keep it."
Elara's lips parted, but words failed her. No one ever kept promises in this world. Not to healers, not to women, not to those marked by blood and moonlight. Yet something in his voice, in the certainty of his eyes, unraveled her doubts.
"Come inside," she said softly.
The fire crackled in the hearth as Kaelen stepped into the cottage. He looked too large for the small space, his sword laid gently against the wall, his presence filling every shadow. Elara busied herself with pouring tea, though her hands shook more than she wanted him to see.
They spoke beneath the hush of midnight. She told him half-truths—about herbs, about tending the wounded, about the quiet rhythm of village life. He said little of himself, but Elara learned in the pauses between his words: that he had fought too many battles for too little reason, that he carried his duty like a chain around his neck, that loyalty had cost him more than life should.
At some point, silence softened between them. His hand brushed hers as he reached for the cup. The touch was brief, accidental perhaps, but it set her heart racing as though the world itself had stilled.
"You risked everything for me," Kaelen murmured, eyes searching hers in the flicker of firelight. "Why?"
"I don't know," she admitted, voice barely a whisper. "Something in me couldn't let you die."
His gaze lingered, storm and steel entwined. For an instant, the distance between them narrowed, the air thick with unspoken words. But then his jaw tightened, and he pulled his hand back.
"Then I'll protect your secret with my life," he said instead.
Elara forced a nod, though a strange ache settled in her chest. She wished—desperately—that he had kissed her