Chapter 24 — The Story He Never Told
They sat beneath the stars, wrapped in silence.
Lyra's head rested gently against his shoulder, her fingers tracing the edge of the moonwood box he had given her earlier — the one that held his letter, still unread. She hadn't opened it yet. She was waiting for the right moment.
Tonight felt close.
But instead of words on paper, he gave her something else.
A story.
---
"It was my sister," he said softly.
Lyra looked up, eyes wide.
"She was younger," he continued. "Bright. Brave. She used to climb the cliffs without wings, just to prove she could."
Lyra smiled gently. "What was her name?"
"Elenor."
He paused, as if tasting the name for the first time in years.
"She had a dragonling," he said. "A small one. Its wings hadn't formed properly. Everyone said it wouldn't fly."
Lyra's voice was barely a whisper. "Did she believe that?"
"No," he said. "She believed it could. She believed everything could."
He closed his eyes.
"One day, she took it to the edge of the sky. Said she'd help it fly. Said she'd catch it if it fell."
Lyra's heart tightened. "Did she?"
He nodded slowly. "She did. But the wind was cruel that day. It caught her instead."
Lyra reached for his hand.
"She didn't fall far," he said. "But far enough. The dragonling survived. She didn't."
Silence wrapped around them.
"I was supposed to be watching," he said. "I was the older one. The stronger one. I should have stopped her."
Lyra leaned closer, her glow softening.
"You couldn't have," she said. "She was choosing love."
He looked at her — really looked — and something in his gaze broke open.
"I see her in you," he whispered. "Not because you're reckless. Because you believe."
Lyra's voice trembled. "I believe in you."
He reached for her then, slowly, reverently, and pulled her into his arms.
Not as a king.
Not as a protector.
As someone who had finally let himself be held.
---
They stayed like that for a long time.
And when Lyra finally opened the letter later that night, she didn't cry.
She smiled.
Because now she knew the truth.
Not just of his past.
But of his heart.