“Are…you back?” I dropped the axe. The fight was over. Yet I saw the worry on her face turn to a frown. Her eyes avoided mine.
“That wasn’t Cestra. That was me, Charlotte, that was me too.”
I could hear the soft pitter-patter of blood dripping from her hands onto the white snow. I clenched my wounded arm even harder as a pang of burning pain seeped deeper into me.
“I’m…” I began, as I saw the tears forming in her eyes.
I wasn’t thinking about the pain or what had happened before, but moved faster than I ever had before. As she looked up, I wrapped my one good arm around her, giving her the warm embrace that she never truly had. It hurt like hell, but it was something I wanted. I was something she needed.
“I understand.” I softly stroked her hair as she sobbed into my cloak. Her still-
