Violet

I had spent my waking moment laying in bed. The memory of yesterday evening with that little girl brought a bit of a smile to my face despite the strangeness of the situation.

I hadn’t expected to actually have to face both of them this soon at the same time.

Pale light filtered through the frosted window. It was early, the sky outside still caught between night and dawn, everything washed in shades of grey and muted blue.

My heart jumped, and I sat upright when I sensed Kael close.

The knock came just as I slowly pulled myself to the door.

I opened it to find Kael standing in the corridor, dressed in the heavy dark coat Frostheim’s wolves wore against the cold. His hair was slightly damp, like he had washed his face recently, and there was a tray balanced in one hand.

I was surprised to see this.

"You haven’t been eating enough," he said by way of greeting.

Before I could say anything, he was already stepping past me into the room and setting the tray down on the small table in the centre of the room.

"Oh, thank you." I smiled faintly, closing the door behind me.

He pulled out the small chair for me and stood there, waiting, with an expression that made it clear he wasn’t leaving until I sat down and ate something.

Something terrified me.

For a fleeting moment, I almost thought it was Rowan standing in his place.

"Violet?"

My thoughts jerked back to the present. I couldn’t believe I was just about to ask him where Rowan was.

"Oh, thank you, Kael." I smiled.

A small smile widened his lips. My heart grew warm.

I moved to take the seat, and Kael settled onto the edge of the bed across from me, his elbows resting on his knees. He watched me eat with the quiet intensity that had once made me so nervous.

I missed him. I really did, but for some strange reason, my chest ached.

I glanced at him again, wondering if he would have sensed what I felt when I noticed his eyes lingering on the faint scar below my eye before moving to the one along my collarbone, where my shirt didn’t fully cover it.

His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

"You don’t have to look at them like that," I murmured.

His gaze snapped back to mine. "Like what?"

"Like you’re angry at yourself for not being there."

Something flickered behind his eyes, sharp and quickly buried. He looked away, his hands clasping together between his knees.

"I should have been. All of this is my fault."

My heart stung. "You couldn’t have known where I was, and you still came. That matters."

He held my gaze for a long moment, and the tension in his eyes slowly eased.

"The tea is getting cold," he said.

I immediately returned my attention to the food, and the room settled into a comfortable quiet for a while as I ate and he sat there, watching me with less intensity now.

Then he leaned back slightly.

"Tell me about the journey," he said.

I looked up from the food, caught off guard.

"The places you saw. What you found." His voice was calm. "If you want to talk about it."

The question was simple, but the weight beneath it wasn’t.

My mind went to the places first. The capitals, the different forests, the underground civilisation, and the rest.

But threaded through nearly every single memory was Rowan.

This was so odd. The irony of how much had changed wasn’t lost on me.

Kael must have sensed the shift because he was quiet for a moment. Then he sighed.

"I know he was there, Violet."

I stiffened.

"I am not a fool." He said it without bitterness, just a tired sort of honesty. "He went after you the moment he left. I should have expected it. I thought he would... I thought he would just head to his territory and wait. I had instructed him on certain diplomatic tasks to another nation and—" He shook his head, a faint, rueful smile crossing his face. "That was foolish of me."

I didn’t know what to say.

"I’m not asking you to pretend he wasn’t part of it," Kael continued. His eyes met mine, steady and direct. "I just want to hear about what you experienced. The places you saw. What you discovered. That’s all."

The sincerity in his voice loosened the tightness inside my chest.

So I told him.

He listened so attentively, and before I knew it, I had been talking for a long time. Out of everything, I had to omit the moments with Rowan and the underground city. But I was detailed wherever possible.

His eyes softened when I mentioned Bei, her notes, and all the sights we’d seen together.

He felt sad, and I had felt guilty, but he had prompted me to continue.

He listened to all of it.

And I noticed he never once asked about the parts that involved Rowan directly.

He already knew. He didn’t need me to confirm it.

By the time I finished, my tea was cold, and my chest felt lighter than it had in days.

"I should have just come with you."

My eyes widened. "Wouldn’t that have been... risky?"

Before I had finished talking, he was already on his feet.

He crossed the small distance between us. I looked up at him, my hands still wrapped around the cold cup.

He reached down and took the cup from my hands, setting it on the table beside the empty tray. Then he sat on the other chair beside me.

He cupped my chin and tilted my face up toward his. His thumb brushed across my lower lip.

My heart stuttered.

"Whatever happens," he started, his eyes holding mine with an intensity that pinned me in place. "Whatever you decide. I want you to know that I do not regret any of it. Not a single moment."

My throat closed at the hurt and hope that flooded through me. A large part of it, his.

Kael leaned down and kissed me.

His mouth was warm and firm against mine, and the familiarity of it rushed through me like a wave. I knew this kiss. I knew the way his hand cradled my jaw, the way he tilted his head to fit against me, the way he kissed with his whole body, leaning in like he could close every distance between us through sheer force of will.

My hands rose to his chest, pressing flat against the heavy fabric of his coat. I could feel his heart beneath my palms.

He kissed me deeper, his other hand sliding to the back of my neck. There was that same hunger in it, restrained but undeniable.

And beneath the hunger, something more fragile. He trembled.

I kissed him back.

Because I meant it. Because whatever was shifting inside me didn’t erase what we had shared or make it less real.

And I had missed him so much.

When he pulled back, he held my hands and stared at them, caressing my fingers.

We stayed like that for a long moment.

Then he straightened.

He picked up the teacup and placed it back in my hands, closing my fingers around it.

"Finish your tea," he said quietly.

He walked to the door. His hand rested on the handle, as he stared back at me.

"I’ll return to check on you soon," he added, before closing the door softly behind him.

I sat there, staring at the place where he had been standing.