The ride back to Meria was a quiet one.
From the moment Ella had woken, she had not said a word. She refused breakfast, refused conversation, and insisted on leaving Gavaria as soon as possible.
Now she sat by the carriage window, her gaze fixed on the passing trees, though it was clear she wasn't really seeing them, she was immersed in thoughts so deep one could have drowned in them.
Nathan sat across from her, watching her too closely.
Her face was blank, stripped of its usual softness and radiance, as though something inside her had dimmed or shuttered. It unsettled him more than her tears ever could.
He knew why. It was disappointment.
Not just disappointment, no. Something deeper than that. Something sharper.
And though he would never admit it aloud, Nathan knew he had played a part in it.
Still… he had done what he had to, what else could he have done?
