[Haldor's POV—Dawnspire Wing—Later That Morning]
I left her chambers with my spine straight and my thoughts in chaos.
That was nothing new.
What was new was how the silence followed me—how the corridors seemed to watch as I walked, as if the palace itself sensed that something had shifted and was waiting to see which way it would fall.
Captain. Protector. Nothing more.
That was the role I had carved into myself, stone by stone, year by year. And yet this morning, every step away from her door felt like resistance—like swimming against a current I had only just noticed pulling me in.
I stopped at the tall window overlooking the inner courtyard.
Soldiers trained below. Steel rang against steel. Commands echoed. Order, discipline, repetition—the language I understood best.
Good.
I needed that.
Because my mind kept returning to the way she had said my name.
Not Captain. Not Protector.
Just—Haldor.
I clenched my jaw and forced my focus outward.
