Page 74 of Till Orc Do Us Part

The day passes slow, cold, and wrong.

I attend my meetings in body, not in mind. My assistants bring reports I barely register. Ilyana’s sharp eyes follow me through the call—measuring, questioning—but I give her nothing.

I will fight this battle.

But not today.

By sunset, I find myself walking the boardwalk again, feet carrying me without thought.

The Gilded Page is closed.

Lights off.

No sign of her.

I should walk away.

Instead, I lower myself onto the steps, the cold boards biting through my slacks.

The sea murmurs soft and low beneath the pier. Gulls wheel above, their cries sharp against the darkening sky.

I sit in the stillness, every muscle taut beneath a calm I no longer feel.

Footsteps approach.

Small. Familiar.

I look up.

Jamie.

He trots up with his notebook tucked under one arm, curls wild from the wind. His face is solemn in the dim light.

He stops in front of me, small chest rising and falling with purpose.

“You look sad,” he says simply.

I huff a breath. “Perhaps.”

He studies me, head tilted. “Are you gonna fix it?”

My throat tightens. “I do not know how.”

Jamie frowns, clearly displeased with this answer.

Then he brightens. “Wait.”

He rifles through his notebook, pulls out a familiar object—my compass.

But now, taped across the cracked glass is a strip of lined paper. In bold, crayon-scrawled letters:

“Find your brave.”

I stare at it.

Jamie holds it out. “Mom says brave doesn’t mean not scared. It means doing it anyway.”

I take the compass slowly, fingers closing around the worn brass.