We didn't talk about Kael after that.
Not because it was forbidden—but because it no longer needed to be processed out loud. His presence had slipped cleanly into the past, not festering, not lingering. Just… done.
The land stretched wide ahead of us, the air warm with late afternoon sun, cicadas humming lazily from the brush. The tension that had followed us for days loosened its grip—not disappearing, but easing into something quieter.
I walked a little ahead for a while, enjoying the rhythm of my own steps, the steady beat of breath in my chest. For the first time in a long while, my body didn't feel braced for impact.
It felt inhabited.
Alaric caught up to me without hurry, matching my pace as if he'd always been meant to walk there.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," I replied. "Better than I expected."
He nodded, accepting the answer without probing further.
That was his way.
