Elowen had always noticed things before she named them.
She noticed the way the air shifted when Caleb arrived—how the quiet bent, how Lila’s shoulders settled without her realizing it. She noticed the way Alden walked a little straighter around him, chest out, steps unconsciously matching another rhythm he hadn’t been taught.
She noticed the bond long before she understood the word.
And she noticed the truth the day Caleb knelt to tie Alden’s bootlace.
Elowen sat on a flat stone nearby, legs swinging idly, watching the careful way Caleb’s fingers moved. Gentle. Certain. Familiar in a way that made something warm and undeniable bloom in her chest.
Oh, she thought.
The realization didn’t come with shock.
It came with recognition.
Her gaze drifted from Caleb’s bowed head to Lila stan
