“You don’t get it!” She whirled on him, eyes wild. “I have to fix this! I have to save this place! My parents died for this land. My grandparents gave their whole lives to it. Grandma died trying to keep it going. Grandpa worked himself to death and I—” Her voice broke completely. “I have to make it mean something. I have to prove it wasn’t all for nothing!”
“Del—”
“NO!” She shoved at his chest. It was like a child pushing a wall. “You don’t understand! This is all I have left of them! If I lose this place, I lose THEM. I lose everything. I’m the last one. It’s all on me. I have to—I have to—”
Her legs gave out.
Maelic caught her before she hit the ground, and she sagged against him, all the fight draining out of her at once.
“I have to,” she whispered against his chest. “I have to fix this. I ruin everything. I couldn’t save Grandma. I couldn’t save Grandpa. I can’t even save their farm. I’m failing everyone. I’m failing—”
“Enough.” The word came out rougher than he intended. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Astara, you cannot do this. Not alone. Not like this.”
“I have to—”
“No. You don’t.” His grip gentled but didn’t release. “This war you are fighting? You have already lost it. I can see that. You can see that. Working yourself to death will not change the outcome.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. She didn’t seem to notice them.
“Then what do I do?” Her voice was so small. Broken. “What do I do, Maelic? I don’t know what to do anymore.”
His chest hurt. This fierce, stubborn female who’d tied him up and then offered him cocoa the next day like it was nothing—reduced to this. Shattered.
He’d seen this before.
In himself, after his parents died. The desperate need to do something, to make the pain mean something, to work until the grief couldn’t catch up.
It never worked.
“You stop,” he said quietly. “Just for today. Just for tonight. Let yourself stop.”
“I can’t—”
He didn’t ask permission. He simply bent down and hoisted her up over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” She pounded her fists against his back, but the blows were weak. “Maelic, put me down! I have to finish!”
“No,” he said firmly, already heading toward the house. “You’ve done enough.”
“I haven’t! I haven’t done anything! It’s not enough, it’s never going to be enough!” She was sobbing now, words dissolving into broken gasps. “Let me go! I have to fix this! I have to—”
“You cannot fix this alone.” His voice cracked despite his best efforts. “Please. Let me help. Just… let me help.”
She went limp against him. Not surrender, exactly. More like her body had simply given up the fight her mind was still trying to wage.
He wrapped his wings around her as he walked, shielding her from the wind. From the sight of those pathetic trees. From everything.
She was still crying. Quiet, hopeless sobs that broke something fundamental in his chest.
“Grandpa would be so disappointed in me,” she whispered.
“No.” The word came out fierce. “No, Del. He would not.”
“You didn’t know him.”
“I know you.” He tightened his grip. “And anyone who looked at you and felt anything other than pride would be a fool.”
She didn’t answer. Just buried her face against his crest fur and cried.
