Cassian POV
I exhaled slowly, the pressure in my chest mounting like a vice tightening around my lungs. Maelor stood firm, his spine straight with defiance, but I couldn’t walk away without making him understand without laying bare what he refused to see.
"You don’t get it, Maelor," I said, voice taut with a quiet intensity. "There are people out there who would hurt her. That’s why I kept her hidden. You think I wanted to cage her like some possession? Those bastards who sold her to me… they didn’t do it for coin they did it out of fear. To protect themselves. She’s not safe out there. How could you let this happen?"
A flicker of shock passed over his face, and I realized too late I’d said more than I should’ve. I’d exposed too much. Dravina’s past wasn’t something he needed to know,
