KAEL
I didn’t know if I made a mistake letting Holly walk away.
Letting her go without a single word to stop her, no explanation, and no fight.
She stood there last night, eyes full of fire and hope, asking me one question, “Is there someone else, who’s she?” and I said nothing.
That silence, it followed me into the morning like a punishment. It sat on my chest heavier than the bandages covering the wound still aching on my ribs.
I’d told myself silence was mercy, that saying nothing was better than hurting her. But now? Now it just felt like cowardice.
Because the truth was brutal, there was someone else.
Someone I didn’t even know.
Someone I couldn’t stop thinking about, even when I tried to drown her memory in duty, in steel, in war.
I didn’t know her name yet, but I knew what
