Chapter 27
Draven,
I have spent far too long staring at my blank parchment searching for the right words.
I’ve decided there are no right words. There is nothing I can offer you with my quill that you probably haven’t heard before.
That will do any sort of justice for describing how my heart aches for your losses.
How my stomach churns with disgust at the cruelty of your father.
So, instead, I will simply say thank you.
For sharing your deepest scars with me. For trusting me to bear them alongside you.
As for Rhea? Well… I can’t wait to meet her.
She must be an amazing woman to have both survived in House Dalmar and put up with your brooding for so many years. (Can you hear the laugh in my words?)
I’ve decided to put as much consideration into your question as you did mine.
So below, please find a small list of facts nobody knows about me.
Not even Gray. Not even you, with all those many, many questions you once asked me in between training sessions while resting within the rolling hills of Thanicka.
And in now knowing that, I will ask you my most hidden question:
If I showed you all my weaknesses, do you think you’d still look at me the same?
If the initial sparkle of the defiance, the resilience, the strength you say you saw in me—if it all melted away and you saw the core of a girl who was simply broken and riddled with uncertainties, do you think you’d still be able to love her?
Sometimes I, myself, question whether or not I can.
With all my heart,
L x