'Is it because I left?'
The question lingered longer than Ezra wanted it to.
Helios had mentioned it before. That things changed after Ezra disappeared. That the palace felt different. That the Sunward Sentinels were not the same.
Ezra had accepted that much.
But this?
Helios stepping away from a case?
From children being kidnapped?
That was not the Helios he carried in his mind.
Not the Helios he admired.
The Helios he knew did not retreat. He did not hand over responsibility lightly. He did not look at injustice and decide someone else could handle it better.
'He never gives up,' Ezra insisted inwardly. 'He stands his ground even when it costs him.'
Helios believed in what was right. Almost stubbornly.
But then again…
Helios loved his brothers.
Especially when they tried.
If this had been the first time Kaelis showed initiative, the first time he stepped forward seriously… would Helios have yielded? Would he have thought it was a chance for unity? For growth?
