Alaric had been writing for a long while before he noticed the candle was nearly burned down.

  Wax had pooled unevenly across the table, yet he hadn’t stopped. His fingers moved slowly, with a tired precision, as if each word weighed more than the last. He didn’t reread. He didn’t correct. He only kept going.

  Several sheets lay stacked neatly to one side, already filled, arranged with too much care for someone who didn’t expect to read them again.

  He sighed, setting the quill down for a moment.

  The silence of the room wasn’t comforting. It wasn’t peace. It was waiting.

  “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this together…” he murmured to himself without looking up.

  Then he kept writing.

  He never made clear who the words were meant for. Not even whether he expected anyone to read them soon. What was obvious was that he wasn’t writing for the present, but for a time when he would no longer be able to explain anything in person.

  When he finished the page, he folded it carefully and placed it with the others. He pinched out the candle with his fingers, unhurried, and remained there in the darkness for several seconds, breathing deeply.

  As if he already knew that whatever was coming… wouldn’t be something he could stop.

  The following morning, Kael found Lucan outside his house, tightening his gloves with sharp, almost aggressive movements. He didn’t look like he was preparing to train—he looked like he was getting ready to leave without a destination.

  “Hey,” Kael greeted, trying to sound casual. “Selene and I were going to train near the river. Thought you might want to come.”

  Lucan lifted his gaze for barely a second. There was no exhaustion in his eyes. Something worse lived there instead.

  “No.”

  Kael froze.

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “I’m not training today. And definitely not with you.”

  The tone left no room for discussion. Kael frowned, irritation rising.

  “And why not?” he pressed. “It doesn’t have to be intense. Just moving around a bit. Selene was pretty insistent you’d come.”

  Lucan finished tightening the glove and let his arms drop stiffly at his sides.

  “Ask your sister,” he said, without looking at him.

  Kael blinked, anger flaring in his chest.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Lucan brushed past him, barely grazing his shoulder, and kept walking down the main street without turning back.

  Kael stood there for a few seconds, jaw clenched.

  Leaving him behind with more questions than answers.

  “Great. Now what’s his problem…?” he muttered before turning around.

  When Kael got home, Selene was sitting at the table with Elira. There was no food out. Only cold cups and an uncomfortable silence.

  “I went to get Lucan,” Kael said as soon as he shut the door. “He didn’t want to come.”

  Selene’s head snapped up.

  “Did he say anything?”

  Kael hesitated.

  “He said if I wanted to know why… I should ask you.”

  The silence fell heavily.

  Selene felt her stomach tighten, as if something she’d been avoiding for days had finally caught up with her. She didn’t ask anything else. She didn’t need to.

  Elira watched her closely, noticing the shift in her expression.

  Selene didn’t respond right away. She lowered her gaze, fingers tensing against the table, unsure what to do with her hands.

  “…He knows,” she said at last, quietly.

  Kael looked between them, completely lost.

  “Knows what?”

  “Nothing you need to carry,” Elira replied, not taking her eyes off Selene.

  Kael scoffed, annoyed, but didn’t push further. He shrugged and headed toward his room, leaving the conversation hanging in the air.

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  Elira leaned in slightly.

  “Selene…” she began gently.

  “No,” Selene cut her off, her voice trembling with something that wasn’t fear. “Don’t tell me to calm down.”

  Elira stopped.

  “I was just—”

  “It’s not going to be fine,” Selene continued, standing abruptly.

  Elira rose as well.

  Selene pressed her fingers into the edge of the table.

  “He’s going to hate me.”

  “No,” Elira replied with steady firmness. “He’s going to close himself off. That’s different. But when he hears everything…”

  Selene shook her head slowly.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I do. Because despite everything, he’s good—and no one carries something like that alone forever.”

  Selene took a deep breath, trying to cling to those words.

  Then there was a knock at the door.

  Kael reacted first.

  “I’ve got it.”

  He opened the door without much thought.

  An older man stood outside, posture straight, gaze severe.

  “Good morning,” he said politely. “I’m looking for Selene. I’m… Lucan’s mentor.”

  Kael looked him up and down, confused.

  “Oh. Uh… yeah. Come in.”

  When Eldric stepped inside, Elira looked up.

  For a moment, the world slipped out of alignment.

  “Dad…?” she said softly, as if the word weighed too much in her mouth.

  Eldric stopped cold.

  “Elira.”

  She took a step toward him. Then another. As if she needed to be sure he was real.

  “You’re… alive,” she whispered.

  And then she hugged him.

  It was clumsy and tight and desperate. Eldric closed his eyes, resting his forehead against her hair, breathing deeply, as if that simple act had been denied to him for years.

  Then Elira’s body went rigid.

  She pulled away sharply.

  “No,” she said, stepping back. “No. Not now.”

  The anger surged up all at once, like a wave held back too long.

  “Where were you?” she demanded. “Do you have any idea what it was like thinking you were dead?”

  Eldric lowered his gaze.

  “I—”

  “Years!” she continued. “Years without a word. Without a sign. Do you know what it’s like raising children believing their grandfather is dead?”

  Kael watched from the hallway, not daring to move.

  “I watched them grow without you,” Elira said, her voice breaking. “And you were out there. Doing whatever it was you were doing.”

  Eldric swallowed.

  “I thought it was the right thing to do.”

  Elira let out a bitter laugh.

  “You always did.”

  The silence that followed wasn’t reconciliation.

  It was open wounds.

  Eldric stayed where he was. He didn’t sit. He didn’t remove his coat. As if doing so would mean admitting he had the right to stay.

  “More than a week,” Elira said. “That’s how long you’ve been here, isn’t it?”

  Eldric lowered his gaze for a moment.

  “Yes.”

  “And in all that time you didn’t look for me. You didn’t ask about me. You didn’t ask about your grandchildren.”

  Kael, who had returned to the hallway without fully understanding what was happening, froze at that word.

  Grandchildren.

  Eldric closed his eyes briefly, accepting the blow.

  “I didn’t know it was them,” he said honestly. “And even so… I know that’s no excuse.”

  Elira let out a short, humorless laugh.

  “It never is.”

  Selene watched from the side, not daring to interrupt. She felt like she was witnessing something that didn’t belong to her—something too old and too fragile.

  “I didn’t disappear because I wanted to,” Eldric continued. “I did it because I thought it was the only way. I needed to leave the village for a time.”

  “A time?” Elira snapped. “You call letting me believe you were dead ‘a time’?”

  Eldric didn’t answer immediately.

  “I needed to protect you,” he said at last. “I needed to carry the weight myself.”

  Elira pressed her lips together. She was furious—and at the same time, relieved he was alive. That contradiction unraveled her more than any explanation.

  “Don’t ever decide for me again,” she said. “Never.”

  Eldric nodded slowly.

  “I won’t.”

  Then, for the first time since entering, Eldric looked directly at Selene.

  “I came because of Lucan,” he said. “But also because of you.”

  Selene tensed immediately.

  “Because of me?”

  “I know you’ve been watching him,” Eldric continued, without preamble. “And I know he’s realized it.”

  The air seemed to thicken. Selene pressed her lips together.

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “I know,” he interrupted, lifting a hand. “And that’s part of the problem.”

  Selene lowered her gaze.

  “He’s angry.”

  “He’s hurt,” Eldric corrected. “And when someone like him feels that way… he withdraws.”

  Elira crossed her arms, still rigid from everything else.

  “So what is she supposed to do? Pretend nothing happened?”

  Eldric shook his head slowly.

  “No. She needs to not leave him alone right now. Lucan didn’t grow up with our rules. He didn’t learn to read between the lines. To him, being watched doesn’t sound like protection. It sounds like distrust.”

  Selene swallowed.

  “I just wanted to keep him safe.”

  “And you did,” Eldric said. “But you also made him wonder if he’s a problem.”

  That hurt more than any accusation.

  Selene lifted her eyes, shining.

  “Can I still… do something?”

  Eldric held her gaze silently for a few seconds before answering.

  “You’re one of the few people he ever lowered his guard around,” he said. “Not because he trusts blindly—but because with you, he allowed himself not to be alert all the time.”

  Kael, who had been pacing restlessly, frowned.

  “Wait,” he said suddenly. “If you’re my mom’s dad…” he looked at Eldric. “Does that mean you’re our grandfather?”

  “And then what does that make Lucan?” he continued. “Our uncle?”

  Selene’s eyes widened.

  Eldric blinked.

  For the first time since arriving… he smiled. Just barely. Awkward. Uncertain.

  “No…” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t think there’s a clear word for that. Like I said before, I’m his mentor.”

  Kael studied him for a few seconds.

  Elira shook her head, rubbing her face in exhaustion.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” she muttered.

  Eldric looked at her.

  “Neither can I,” he admitted. “And I know I don’t have the right to ask for anything. Not quick explanations. Not instant forgiveness.”

  Elira met his gaze. The anger was still there. But so was something else.

  “You left,” she said. “Without saying anything.”

  “I know.”

  “And now you show up. Here. Like nothing happened.”

  “Not like nothing happened,” he replied. “Like someone who knows he messed up… and doesn’t know how to fix it.”

  Elira didn’t answer. Not yet.

  Eldric turned back to Selene.

  “I’m not going to tell you what to do,” he said. “But if you find him… listen. Let him say everything he’s been holding in. Even if it hurts. Even if it makes you feel guilty.”

  Selene clenched her fists.

  “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” he replied. “But when Lucan needs to think… he walks.”

  Selene nodded, took one last deep breath, and stepped out.

  The house fell silent again.

  Kael looked at Eldric.

  “So… do you want some water or something?” he asked. “Because this is a lot to process.”

  Eldric let out a brief, tired laugh.

  “Water would be good.”

  It wasn’t reconciliation.

  But it was a beginning.

  Selene didn’t wait.

  She grabbed her coat and left the house without looking back.

  The air hit her full force as she crossed the threshold. The kingdom was calm—too calm. Streetlights cast long shadows across the stone.

  Lucan could be anywhere.

  And still, Selene walked.

  Not in a rush.

  With determination.

  End of Chapter 13