Rael's breath dragged shallow as his eyes cracked open. The world swam for a moment, a haze of gold light pouring through the chamber's woven windows. He tasted herbs on his tongue, felt bandages tight across his chest, and the softness beneath him was no battlefield ground.
He was alive. Somehow.
And then he saw her.
Evelyn.
She sat beside his bed, robed in pale silver that caught the morning like liquid flame. Her posture was proud, chin lifted as though she were presiding over a council, yet her gaze was locked on him with an intensity that stole the air from his lungs.
For a heartbeat, Rael wondered if he still dreamed.
"You wake," Evelyn said, her voice clear, carrying both command and something unguarded beneath it. Even the healers nearby lowered their heads at her words.
Rael blinked, throat rough. "Why… are you here?"
One healer stiffened, as if the question itself was insolent. But Evelyn raised a hand, silencing them.
"I asked of your condition each day," she said. "And today, I chose to see for myself. Is that answer not enough?"
Her tone was lofty, yet her eyes betrayed her. They lingered on him, searching, almost aching, though her lips refused to shape the truth.
Rael managed a weak smile. "An elf princess, wasting thoughts on a human… That doesn't sound right."
The words made her breath hitch—barely, but enough for him to notice. She leaned closer, emerald eyes catching his storm-gray ones.
"Do not mistake me," she said softly, a sharp edge still clinging to her pride. "I do not waste thought. I choose where I give it. And against all reason, Rael Drakenhart, you make me… choose."
His heart stumbled in his chest. He had faced fire, monsters, and death, but never this.
The healers busied themselves with herbs, pretending not to hear, though the air in the chamber seemed to thrum with her words.
Rael exhaled, voice low. "Then perhaps… I should be glad I didn't die."
Something flickered across her face then—not regal, not distant, but achingly human. A hint of relief, a shadow of warmth.
She drew back, regaining her composure, every line of her figure once more steeped in pride. "Rest," she ordered. "Your body is not yet mended. Do not test its limits."
But as she turned to leave, she paused at the door, her voice lowering into something the others were never meant to hear.
"I am glad you opened your eyes," she whispered.
And then she was gone, leaving Rael staring after her, the echo of her gaze burning hotter than any wound.