"I-I'm sorry…"
Vaelira's apology lingered in the room after it left her mouth, thin and inadequate, hanging in the sterile air alongside the steady hum of wards and the faint mechanical rhythm of life-preserving glyphs.
The sound faded quickly, absorbed by the walls, leaving only her uneven breathing and the presence looming beside the bed.
Kaiden offered no response. He did not shift his stance or acknowledge her words in any visible way, and that absence of reaction carved deeper into her nerves than any shouted threat could have.
Her chest rose and fell in short, frantic pulls of air as she searched his shadowed face for a sign of restraint or mercy and found only stillness.
