The night stretched vast and unkind above the balcony, its silence not gentle but pressing, as though the darkness itself leaned closer to witness what daylight refused to see, and Elara stood at its edge with her hands resting against the cold stone railing, her fingers curled tightly around it as if anchoring herself to something solid while everything within her threatened to drift.
The wind brushed against her skin.
Cool.
Restless.
It carried no comfort.
Only space.
"You look unbreakable."
Rhea's voice came from behind her, low and steady, yet threaded with something softer than the strength she usually carried, something that did not belong to command but to concern, and Elara did not turn at once, her gaze fixed outward upon the distant lights that flickered like illusions rather than truths.
"I am breaking."
