I didn't sleep that night, and by the time the sky started lightening outside the barracks window, I'd rehearsed the words so many times they'd stopped sounding like anything real, just a string of sentences worn smoothly from repetition.
I found Rhys in the small study of the council hall, alone, reviewing casualty reports from the battle with the kind of grim, methodical focus I remembered him bringing to every hard duty of leadership.
He looked up when I came in, and something in his face softened the way it always did now, before I'd said a word, and I felt the weight of what I was about to do settle into my chest like a stone.
"You're up early," he said.
"I need to tell you something." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "And I need you to let me finish before you say anythin
