Diana would love it here. She once used to dream big…
Diana slips into the bathroom, barefoot and sniffling. I’m crouched by the tub, pressing gauze against my thigh before the blood reaches the tile.
Solas’s belt didn’t leave a single patch of clear skin.
Her eyes widen. “You’re bleeding,” she whispers, voice trembling in that small, careful way that makes me want tofold her into my chest and hide her from everything.
I shake my head. “Just a scratch. I fell.”
A five-year-old shouldn’t see this. Shouldn't imagine it could happen somehow else.
She doesn’t buy it.
She kneels beside me, tiny fingers brushing the longest whip mark. I fight the squint when it burns, masking it with a smile.
Her lower lip trembles, then steadies. “When I be big enough,” she says, “I’m going to be the world’s most famous doctor. I’ll fix you. I’ll fix everyone. I’d save lives!”
She says it like she’s announcing a miracle, like the world listens when she makes promises.
I nod, swallowing the burn in my throat and behind my eyes.“You will,” I whisper. “You’ll be the best one.”
She beams at that—a grin with a missing tooth, pure and proud, like she’s already done it. Then she leans forward and blows softly on the wounds, believing it could make the hurt go away.
I laugh under my breath—a broken sound that barely makes it past my lips.
She doesn’t know how I got it.
Not yet.
Someday she will, and it’ll break something in her I can never fix. So I let her believe.
I lost my dreams and hopes. I won’t let her lose hers.
I shake off the memory burning in my chest and let the silence settle again. But everything inside me says this is the quiet before the storm.
I let out a breath, just as Kayla starts descending the stairs, still singing that annoying pop song stuck in her head the past few hours. Way too upbeat for the weight sitting in mine.
I tilt my head toward the sound, neck resting on the back of the sofa, hair falling to one side.
“Roran?” Her solo ends with a smug little grin. “Chris finally annoyed you, too? Came to the right place.”
Her chuckle burns through me. Would she be Diana’s first friend?
If she makes it...
I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing a smile. “I’m actually waiting for your brother.”
No need to lie or hide anymore.
“Oh.” She scoffs, then pauses. “He should be here any moment. He arrived at the bea—”
She chokes. “—Abert went to pick him up.”
I raise a brow. Thedon’t try to bullshit meone.
Now I’m wondering what she really meant earlier, about offering help, and why Chris stopped her. Why do they all look like they’re hiding something worse than bloodshed and crime?
“Anyway,” she cuts the tension, dropping eye contact, “he’ll be here any second. Do you think you could convince him to let me join you on this?”
