Caelan returned after twenty-one days.
Lyra counted every one.
When the palace bells rang in the distance and the gates opened, she was already at the tower window. Dust rose as the soldiers entered the city. Their armor was dull now. Their faces were tired.
Some were missing.
Her heart searched through the crowd.
Then she saw him.
Caelan rode near the middle this time. His shoulder was wrapped in cloth stained dark with old blood. His face looked thinner. His eyes looked older.
But he was alive.
Lyra pressed her hand to her mouth, afraid her relief would turn into sound.
---
That night, she could not sleep.
Not until she knew.
She waited on the balcony, wrapped in her cloak, the moon washing the stone in pale light.
Footsteps came.
Slow. Familiar.
"You came back," she said.
Caelan stopped beneath her. He looked up. "I said I would."
She could hear how tired he was now.
"Are you badly hurt?" she asked.
"I will live," he replied.
That was enough for her.
They stood in silence for a long moment.
Then she asked, "Did you think of me?"
It was a dangerous question.
Yes or no, both answers would break something.
Caelan closed his eyes once. "Every day."
Her breath caught.
"I tried to stop," he added quietly. "I failed."
Tears slid from her eyes without warning.
"I was told today that I will soon be engaged," she said.
The words fell between them like shattered glass.
Caelan's hands slowly curled into fists at his side.
"I see," he said.
"Do you?" she asked. "Because I don't."
He wanted to tell her to run.
He wanted to tell her to choose herself.
But he was only a knight.
And she was the kingdom.
"I will protect you," he said instead. "No matter what title you carry."
Lyra smiled through tears. "I don't want your sword tonight."
His voice softened. "Then what do you want?"
She almost said his name.
Almost.
Instead, she whispered, "Stay alive."
He bowed his head. "Always."
---
From that night onward, their words grew fewer.
Their feelings grew heavier.
They spoke with their eyes now.
With pauses.
With the space they could not cross.
---
The kingdom moved closer toward war.
And closer toward a wedding Lyra did not want.
While Caelan stood between two oaths.
One to the crown.
One to the girl behind it.