The One She Saved
833 Words
Caelum | Knight Commander
The capital had returned to its rhythm.
Markets buzzed. Guards returned to lazy patrols.
Roasted chestnuts and rose oil drifted through sunlit courtyards like nothing had happened.
But everything had changed.
I remembered the blood that soaked my armor.
The bone-deep cold of near-death.
And the light—her light—wrapping around me like a ghost I was never meant to forget.
Maria.
I didn’t speak her name out loud.
But it carved itself into every breath. Every heartbeat.
It lived inside me now.
So I hunted.
Not with armor. Not with blades.
But with silence.
Today, I wore only a black coat. High collar. Silver clasp.
No steel. No sword.
Because power doesn’t always shout.
Sometimes it whispers.
And walks like smoke.
I found the boy near the palace stables. Unloading crates with too much hope and not enough caution.
His sleeves were rolled, a smudge of green staining his cheek.
“Theo,” I said.
He turned. Blinked.
“You’re Estella’s apprentice.”
He lit up. “Sir Caelum! I mean—Knight Commander! You’re walking? You’re...alive?”
I didn’t smile.
“I heard you know the girl who healed me.”
His grin faded into something gentler. “Maria? Yeah. She’s with us. Kinda shy, but sweet. Like, makes-your-teeth-hurt sweet.”
The sun was too bright all of a sudden. Or maybe it was the ache in my chest when he said her name.
“I’d like to see her.”
He hesitated. Then nodded. “Sure. I was heading there anyway.”
“I’ll walk with you.”
He didn’t argue.
Smart boy.
—
Maria | Estella's Pharmacy
The scent of lavender clung to my hands.
I was kneeling by the hearth, stacking jars of dried petals, sunlight melting through gauzy curtains.
It was peaceful.
Soft.
Almost like I belonged.
But I hadn’t told Aunt Estella everything.
How could I?
I didn’t even have the words to explain what I’d done.
The healing… didn’t come from a spell.
It didn’t come from panic or desperation.
It came from somewhere deeper.
Older.
Inside me.
And when I touched him—the man with silver hair and too many wounds—
it felt like something ancient inside me cracked open.
Like I’d known him before.
Still, I tried to move on.
Sweep the floor. Restock teas. Breathe like I hadn’t saved a legend with nothing but my hands.
Then the bell above the door rang.
“Maria!” Theo’s voice broke the silence. “You—”
He paused. “I brought someone.”
I looked up.
And the world stopped.
Knight Commander Caelum.
No armor.
No sword.
But he didn’t need it.
He wore danger like a second skin.
Stillness like a crown.
His silver-gray hair shimmered beneath the light, but it was his eyes—
grazing over every inch of me—
that made my knees weak.
“You’re staring,” Theo whispered beside me.
I stepped back. Swallowed. “I… remember now.”
He was the one.
The man I saved.
The man who hadn’t left my dreams.
“Come in,” I said softly.
He moved through the shop like he belonged and yet didn’t—
too sharp for the soft scent of teas and flowers.
I poured the tea with trembling fingers.
He watched.
He didn’t speak.
But I felt the heat of his gaze in every breath.
“Our own blend,” I murmured. “Helps with blood loss.”
He took the cup. Drank slowly.
“Thank you,” he said.
His voice was silk draped over steel.
“You remember me, then.”
“Yes.”
We sat across each other. Close.
Too close.
“I’m Caelum,” he said. “Knight Commander of Kraios Royal Legion.”
“I’m Maria,” I whispered. “Just… Maria.”
He nodded.
“I didn’t come for flattery,” he said. “I came to thank you.”
“I didn’t mean to save you.”
“That was enough.”
The silence was unbearable.
So loud it made my chest ache.
“I’m not a healer,” I confessed. “I don’t even know what I am.”
“You’re something more,” he said. Without blinking. Without doubt.
I froze.
Dreams. Water. Light. A voice. His voice.
Calling my name.
“If you remember anything,” he said, rising, “tell me.”
Then he stepped forward.
Reached out.
And brushed something—something delicate and trembling—behind my ear.
A petal.
His fingers lingered.
Soft. Reverent.
“You shine brighter than you think.”
And just like that…
He was gone.
The bell chimed behind him.
Theo peeked out.
“Sooo… are we gonna talk about how you just stopped breathing for, like, a minute?”
But I couldn’t answer.
Because even as the tea cooled on the table…
I still felt his touch.
And deep, deep inside me—
A name stirred.
Not mine.
His.
- Writer
