Page 132 of Fire and Silk

I gulp. Maybe she scares me just a little.

****

The sky hangs low, streaked in bruised lavender and steel blue. It’s the kind of evening that settles quiet across the land, touching every stone and treetop with hush.

We’re home.

She stands by the railing, arms folded, back straight. The breeze moves her hair gently, pulling strands across her cheek. She hasn’t said a word since we returned.

I watch her from the threshold with Matteo beside me, both of us silent. She doesn’t glance our way.

“How long do you think she’s going to be mad?” Matteo asks, voice low, unsure.

“I don’t know,” I answer, honest for once.

There’s a beat of quiet, then Matteo exhales. “I’m going to tell her it was all your idea.”

I glance sideways. “Rat.”

“Call me what you want,” he mutters, fixing his collar. “I’m not dying for your sins.”

He starts forward, takes two bold steps—then hesitates. Her silhouette stays still against the fading light, statuesque and simmering.

Matteo freezes, then backpedals in a blur and turns sharply to me. “Nope. Nope. Too scary. You’re on your own.”

“Matteo—” I begin.

He’s already disappearing down the corridor.

“Don’t look at me!” he calls over his shoulder.

I sigh.

My hand tightens briefly on the marble pillar beside me. I wait one more second. Then I inhale , deep and full, and make my way to her.

Each step feels like approaching a cliff’s edge.

I stop beside her, keeping my distance at first. Her eyes are on the horizon, unmoving.

“Lira,” I say quietly.

She turns her head slowly. Her face is unreadable.

I search her expression. “Why did you come back?”

She looks away, toward the last edge of light over the trees. The sky glows faintly orange before it drowns in blue.

“I like it here,” she says after a breath. “I like this life.”

“With all the madness?” I ask. “The danger?”

Her answer is soft. “Yes. It has you in it.”

I freeze.

She doesn’t look at me when she says it. Her voice is steady but low, like it took effort not to break.

“If you don’t want me,” she continues, “I understand. But this life—I have to have it. I can’t go back to being nothing.”