FIA
The words hung in the air like smoke after a fire. Sharp. Cruel. Designed to cut.
Ijust need everyone to just shut up.
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. The fabric of my sleeves bunched under my fingers. My chest felt hollow. Like something had been scooped out and left to echo.
Cian didn't mean it. I knew that. Knew it the way I knew my own heartbeat. The way I'd known my mother's breathing patterns in those final days when the rot consumed her from the inside out.
He was hurting. Lashing out because the pain had nowhere else to go. I'd done the same thing once. Screamed at the healers who tried to help. Cursed at my father when he told me to be strong. Pushed away anyone who dared suggest my mother might not make it.
The memory still tasted bitter on my tongue.
Cian stormed past Aldric and Elara. His shoulder clipped the doorframe. He didn't slow down. Didn't look back. Just kept moving like stopping meant drowning.
