Chapter 14: The Unvarnished Truth

The days following Kaelus’s injury were an exercise in excruciating tension. My declaration of a “debt repaid” hung in the air between us, a wall I had meticulously rebuilt. He stayed in the camp, too weak to travel, his presence a constant, agonizing reminder of the chasm between my words and my actions. I was all brisk efficiency, changing his bandages with impersonal hands, providing food and water, but offering no conversation, no warmth. He watched me, his blue eyes shadowed with...