Chapter 23
For the first time in months—
Kael didn’t sleep beside me.
He didn’t ask.
Didn’t hesitate awkwardly.
Didn’t look wounded.
He simply stood after the fire burned low and quietly said:
“Get some rest.”
Then he took a blanket and settled onto the couch across the room.
Not leaving.
Not claiming.
Just staying.
The gesture should have felt small.
Instead—
it undid me.
Because suddenly I realized something painful.
Kael wasn’t trying to win anymore.
He was trying to make room for me.
I lay awake for hours anyway.
Watching shadows move across the ceiling.
Thinking.
About us.
About Draven.
About the impossible words:
Sovereign Bond.
I kept waiting to feel something dramatic.
A sign.
A pull.
Some magical certainty.
Instead—
I felt tired.
And that honesty sur
