The smoke that had clouded Kaelen's mind for so long began to thin in this quiet place.
Days passed in the village like whispers in the early sun with scattered chores and the soft chatter of people too used to survival to question peace. For once, Kaelen slept without gripping a blade beneath his cloak. He helped patch broken fences, fetched buckets from the stream, even shared a laugh or two with children he barely knew the names of.
One of those names stuck Tomas, the boy who kept sneaking him extra helpings of stew and bits of bread, claiming he "didn't like the crust anyway." Tomas reminded him of someone. Maybe a younger version of himself. Or someone he failed to protect. He didn't ask questions just ruffled the kid's hair and told him, "Thanks, soldier."
And then there was her.
Maelra.
The villagers called her that, and so he did too. A little older than him, with a sarcastic bite in her tone and a lightness that felt almost out of place. She teased Kaelen whenever she found him brooding too long , "If you keep staring at that cloud, it might start charging rent." But after chores, when the weight of the day lifted, she lingered. Just close enough to be real. Just far enough to remind him not to trust too easily.
Still… she was easy to be around. Easier than most things these days.
The fire in his heart hadn't gone out, the king still breathed. And Kaelen's blade still longed to end him. But in this village, there was something else too. A realization that flickered faintly behind his anger:
"Maybe… maybe not everything has to burn."
The old man who housed him said, "You carry a storm behind your eyes, son. But don't forget even storms leave rain, and rain grows new life."
Kaelen didn't know how to answer that. But one night, he sat under the stars next to Tomas and Maelra, chewing on roasted root vegetables and stale bread, and thought:
' If I kill him… if I end the king with my own hands… maybe the rest of the world can return to this. To something like this.'
The boy laughed at something Maelra said. She smirked, full of mischief. Kaelen didn't smile , he rarely ever did. But his eyes softened. Just a little.