#Chapter 141: Future Glimpse

Ember Kaine finds me outside the healer's door before I can decide whether to turn around. "You've been avoiding this," he says, and when I answer yes, he does not ask why because the bond has already told him enough: fear, hope, denial, and the stubborn belief that if I do not name a thing, it cannot change the life I have only just learned to trust. "I'd like to come in with you." I take his hand. His palm is warm and steady around mine, but I can feel the fear under his calm. Not doubt. Not accusation. Fear for me, for whatever answer waits on the other side of the door, for the way my body has been carrying a secret longer than I meant it to. That is almost worse than if he were angry, because anger I know how to meet. Tenderness still finds gaps in my armor. Healer Maren asks dates, symptoms, and questions I answer like a soldier giving a report. First nausea. Last bleeding. Fatigue. Appetite. Training schedule. How many times I ignored dizziness because there was a