جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

ZaneShe was still shaking in front of me, tears clinging to her lashes, while I slowly lowered my hand so she could see I wasn’t coming any closer. Her words, “I’ll try to trust you,” still hung in the air like something fragile and newly born, the kind of thing a single wrong move could shatter.She kept looking at me, uncertain and exhausted, fear and hope tangled together in her eyes.All I could say was, “That’s enough, Lyra. That’s really enough.”And in that moment I saw something in her for the first time that wasn’t pure terror. A faint, flickering calm. It wasn’t trust yet, not even close, but maybe it was the doorway to it. She didn’t smile. She didn’t relax completely. But she didn’t run. She didn’t scream. She didn’t flinch at every breath I took.That meant more to me than anything.Then she slowly closed her eyes. Not out of fear. Out of exhaustion. Out of relief. And out of that strange realization that maybe, for the first time in her life, someone was truly watching

Zane The silence of the camp was careful, like freshly fallen snow. Every sound reached us softly, as if even the forest knew that the girl I had brought with me was still more fragile than any snapping pine branch. Life slowly returned around the fire. The soldiers spoke in low voices, but they kept glancing at me, as if waiting for me to address them. Maybe it was because what I had done the day before was still burning in their memory. I did not mind. At least now they knew the rule was simple. No one touches Elariana. No one hurts her. And above all, no one speaks to her the way that man did. He was already part of the past. After washing at the spring, the cold water woke every muscle in my body, but it did not clear my mind as much as I wanted. The anger was still there. The moment I saw the girl crying because of cruel words. The fear in her eyes. The reflex that made her want to disappear from the world. That flash where she still believed that if someone hurt her, i

Elariana  After the healer left, the tent flap drifted back into place, and the half light gently wrapped around us again. The sharp, bitter scent of herbs slowly soaked into the air, into the canvas, into everything, even my skin. Beneath the fresh bandage my shoulder throbbed, and I felt both a cold tingling and a dull warmth at the same time, the first uncertain signs of healing. Zane did not speak for a while. He just stood there with his arms crossed, his head slightly tilted, as if he were watching my breathing settle back into something close to normal. And somehow, everything he did felt like too much. Too close. Too reliable. Things a girl like me had never been allowed to get used to. Still, my chest slowly, very slowly, loosened. As if beneath the fear there was something lighter hiding, something I did not yet have a name for. I only knew this. As long as he stood there, no one could touch me. And that made it hard to breathe, and at the same time, easier.

Zane The campfire was slowly burning down, but the embers were still glowing, casting a reddish light on the faces around us. Dinner was simple. Roasted meat, fresh bread, some vegetables. Nothing special for my warriors. But for Elariana, I could see that every bite was another battle she had to fight with herself. She sat across from me, at a distance she had chosen, and I respected it. She held her back stiffly, her shoulders tense, as if an attack could come at any moment. Her hand shook slightly as she held the spoon, but still… she ate. Not quickly. Not confidently. But she ate. And that was more than I had ever hoped for in these first days. From time to time my gaze drifted to her, watching every small movement. I knew she could feel it when I looked at her, so I was careful not to stare too long. I did not want her to think I was judging her appetite or the pace of her eating. I just wanted to make sure nothing was hurting her. My soldiers were quieter than us

Zane The fire was only glowing embers when the girl finally let her head sink into sleep. The air inside the tent was quiet, and the gray light of the outside sky seeped through the gaps in the canvas like a muted, breathing glow. From outside came the slow, deep sounds of the camp. Men murmuring, horses shifting, the dull rush of the river nearby. Yet it all felt distant. As if the whole world were holding its breath, watching someone finally sleep who had not dared to close her eyes in peace for months. I stayed. I did not lie down. I did not sleep. I just sat in the half light and watched her. My body still carried the weight of the day. My nerves, woven together for years by war and loss, were under a different kind of tension now. Not blood. Not anger. But the kind of patience a person feels when trying to hold something fragile without breaking it. Elariana breathed slowly, unevenly. Under the fresh bandage on her shoul