First message
Moonlight spills across the floor like spilled milk, cold and unforgiving, tracing long lines between me and the hearth. I stand barefoot, the chill biting at my skin, but I don’t move. The fire snaps softly, too soft, as if afraid to offend me. In my hand, the letter trembles—not from weakness, but from the fury I’ve taught myself to hide too well. I want to scream. I want to break something. But I don’t. I can’t. I never could.
Then—three knocks. Soft. Measured.
I don’t turn. My voice is calm, clipped, and colder than the stone beneath my feet. “If you’ve come to comfort me, choose your next words very carefully.”