"I don't," Elaine denied quick and fervent, shaking her head emphatic, a few blonde strands loosening rebellious from her braid to frame her face unexpectedly soft, almost vulnerable.
"So, what are you here for?" I was still confused about her motive.
"Nothing but this moment. Your breath coming steady. Your fire banked safe but alive, waiting to blaze again. That's all I need—or deserve."
"Then go, please," I sighed exhausted to my core, waving faint and feeble again with my bandaged hand, the motion pulling taut at fresh stitches on my knuckles, sparking white-hot sparks.
"I—"
"Council awaits your iron word, Elaine. Be the person they hammered you into on anvil and field. Not this... this bedside shadow."
"I can't," she whispered stubborn as rooted stone, staying planted unmovable like oak roots delving ancient soil, hands unclenching slow to grip the chair arms white-knuckled, her armour glinting faint diamonds in the light.
