LYSSARA
Waiting had never felt like this.
It wasn’t the kind of waiting where I still had choices.
I had already made the only decision I could.
The message had been sent.
Now all I could do was stay beside Zirelle and hope the answer reached us before it was too late.
I had become good at waiting.
Eleven months had taught me patience.
But this was different.
This time, I had set everything in motion myself.
I knew people were moving as fast as they could.
Even so, every minute felt too long.
The mark continued to shift beneath my hands.
I didn’t let go.
I talked to Zirelle while we waited.
I had no false hope to offer.
I wasn’t the kind of woman who pretend.
The truth.
I told her about Ashfen.
I told her about the northern terrace, the line of trees, and the tea that always went cold because no one cared enough to drink it while talking.
Then I told her about Thalric.
Not the stories people told about him.
Not his bloodline or the legends attached to his name.
Just the man.
The way he always made two cups of tea.
The book he left outside my door.
The quiet way his hand found mine on the railing without asking for permission.
Then I told her about the document in her father’s pack.
He had written it on his last night in Ironveil.
He didn’t know if that document would ever reach her but he wrote anyway.
I couldn’t ignore that.
Everything around him had been falling apart, yet he had still been thinking about his daughter.
Not himself but for her.
How many people would have done the same?
How many would have found the strength to think beyond their own pain?
But only very few would do what Thalric had.
“If you survive this, you’ll know who your father really was,” I remarked and swallowed.
Not the man others judged.
The man who loved you before he even knew whether he would have another tomorrow.
I never told her she would be all right.
I refused to lie to her.
The future was uncertain.
Pretending otherwise wouldn’t change it.
So I stayed with her.
Sometimes presence spoke louder than promises ever could. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
By early evening, Kaelrith moved into the corridor.
He sat against the wall without a sound.
No one invited him and no one welcomed him.
And I guess he didn’t seem to expect either.
From his look it was easy to deduce that he had already decided he wasn’t leaving until this was over.
That caught my attention.
People could fake concern for a few minutes.
They couldn’t fake patience.
They couldn’t fake loyalty.
Not for hours.
I watched him in silence.
Then I looked back at Zirelle.
Another piece fell into place.
Another truth quietly revealed itself.
I said nothing.
I simply remembered.
Thalric moved between me and the corridor with the quiet efficiency of a man handling two responsibilities at once.
Night came.
The mark continued to cycle, but it didn’t grow worse.
The healer called that a good sign.
It was either holding but not worsening.
I think for now, that was enough.
Everywhere was quiet bynthree in the morning.
The long day had drained everyone.
Through the open doorway, I watched Thalric sit beside his brother.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, Thalric said, “She is going to be all right.” Kaelrith answered without looking at him.
“You don’t know that.”
”Yeah, I had chosen to believe it until I’m forced to believe otherwise.” Kaelrith let out a quiet breath.
“That’s how you’ve carried this territory.”
”Yes.”
”I never knew you could.”
”There was a lot I learned after you left.”
Silence returned.
A few minutes later, Kaelrith pulled a document from his coat and laid it between them.
I knew exactly what it was.
Thalric’s proposal.
He picked it up without a word.
When he finished reading, neither brother spoke.
They didn’t need to.
I turned away and a little smile played on my lips.
The moment wasn’t mine.
Before dawn, a knock sounded against the corridor window.
Kaelrith reacted immediately.
He received the package, checked the name, and brought it straight to the healer’s room.
It belonged to the Alpha Queen.
Nothing more needed to be said.
He saw what needed doing and did it.
The healer read the medical section first.
I watched her expression change as she moved down the page.
Relief replaced uncertainty.
“This will work,” she said.
Then she looked at me.
“There’s something in the last section you need to read yourself.” She handed me the document.
I read the medical instructions first.
They were clear and practical.
Before I reached the end of the page, the healer had already begun preparing everything she needed.
Then I turned to the final section.
I read it once.
Then I read it again.
It wasn’t long.
It didn’t need to be.
The document explained the founding compact’s law on the consort designation.
It said the recognition had always existed in Thalric’s bloodline, dating back to the founding era.
It was not assigned but recognized.
And the difference mattered a lot.
This was because one was a decision made by people.
The other was an acknowledgment of something that already existed.
It was the Moon Goddess looking at two lives that had already become one and simply saying yes.
I lowered the document and looked at Zirelle.
Under the healer’s hands, the mark was finally beginning to settle, slowly but steadily.
I thought about the day we first came to this room.
I remembered the healer stopping in silence eleven months ago.
Back then, all I had was hope but now I had certainty.
The document hadn’t created anything.
It had only confirmed what had already been true.
I folded it.
I refused to hand it over to Thalric neither did I read it aloud.
It was so because it wasn’t a ceremony but simply the truth.
Some truths deserved to be spoken in certain words, not borrowed from an ancient document.
I looked at him and a small smile played on my lips.
He was still standing at the edge of the room, exactly where he had remained for hours.
He hadn’t crossed the line because he believed that was where he belonged.
I walked toward him.
Then I held out the folded document.
“The founding compact didn’t choose you for me,” I said quietly.
“I need you to understand that.”
”It only recognized what was already there.”