the last time I'd

wer, and the meticulous life I'd built from the fragments of a boy who once knew pain

the edge of my memo

I had promised myself I'd find her again. That I'd never forget the

whether she was my prot

office window, the bustling empl

the same hesitant poise. My mind refused to reconcile the years with the scarred,

polished wood, heart betraying the calm exterior I pr

hts. The way she'd stepped into my meeting

apon, subtle, precise, and

aid you'd fin

ha

had

around her presence. I couldn't focus. Orders, reports, strategy meetings they

red his throat. "Sir, the board m

ference room, my mind refused to release her. The scarred cheek, the subtle curve of her jaw, the w

confusion into every glance, every whispered comment. She thought

I felt the smallest flicker of recognition. A memory

ld steel, a place where decisions shaped the fates of

licked to me, a mixture of satisfaction and challenge, and

-coated blade hidden beneath civil

scanning the room, ca

e quiet restraint, the subtle tension in her shoulders. Somethi

nown. I should

my mind

things that consumed my waking hours. And yet, my attention kept stray

fed the gnawing question: Could this be her? Could th

honeyed, precise, threaded with insinuation. "You seem... distrac

could not know. She could not manipulate what was b

dragged on, I

ingless compared to the weight of what

nameable ignited in my chest. Confusion, longing, a shadow of the boy I ha

I had to see her, speak with her, test th

n even in the crowded hallway. She froze. Her e

e smallest details: the tilt of her chin, the c

held me back. Selene had already seeded do

" I said. Not a request. N

betraying the calm mask she wore so carefull

d not felt in years. "There are things you need to know. Things I

t flicker of fear and recogn

from the side corridor, her presence like

innocent, "don't forget we have obligations. Y

move my eyes from Liora. Something about her, about that quiet resi

nally, voice low, almo

elt the first stirrings of something dangerous: the fragile

ter, trembling hands held, whispered promises

. Focus. Control. Selene

steady myself, I knew

had saved m

ld not ig

anym

nd brushed mine briefly just enough to remind me of her power, her claim. A cru

n, and for the first time in years, I fel

t Selene. It wasn't the board. It

remem

everything

my world was standing just out of reach

ime she moved, the next word she spoke, the

ld be able to protect her.