Lev.
"You could have died, George."
Cora’s voice broke through the darkness before the pain did, faint at first, like it came from afar, then sharper and then closer.
"You think that would have solved anything?" I kept my eyes closed, it was easier that way.
The weight of my body felt foreign, each limb too heavy, each breath took longer to pull through, my ribs ached when I tried to move, so I didn’t.
But I listened.
"I handled it." George’s voice... steady, quiet, and frustratingly unbothered.
"She was safe." Cora’s reply came fast and full of heat.
"That’s not the point! You were reckless! What if they had killed you? You think your blood on that ground would have made her safer?"
A pause.
Then George answered in a tone I knew too well.
"You are not angry I fought, you are an
