Bound to The Enemy of My Mate
It was an erasure.
‘I am leaving for the war at dawn. In every battle before this, I fought with a purpose: to return. To a cold manor, to a contractual wife, to a hope. Now I fight with a question: if I return, where do I go?
‘I send these to you not as a plea. You are beyond my pleas. I send them as evidence. For when the bond’s logic softens, or hardens, or when you simply wonder what was real. Here is the truth of Kael Rennar. It was always you. The princess was a friend; you were the specter in every room, the secret behind every unsent letter. It is you still, even as you read this with eyes that burn gold with hatred for me. I go to the Crags. Do not watch for my return.’