Chapter 24 - The Ease
They walked without speaking at first.
Athena wasn't sure where they were going, only that her feet felt lighter with every step beside him. The tightness that had lived in her chest for as long as she could remember had... loosened.
Not disappeared.
Just softened.
Like a fist slowly unclenching.
The courtyard opened into a long stone path along the mountain wall. Wind brushed gently against her face, cool and clean, and she breathed it in deeply.
She realized something strange.
She wasn't anxious.
She wasn't replaying memories of James.
She wasn't trying to figure out what she should be doing to be good enough.
Her mind was... quiet.
She glanced at Silas.
He walked with calm, steady strides, hands clasped loosely behind his back, eyes forward but aware of her every movement.
She didn't know why, but walking beside him felt natural.
Easy.
"How is it possible that I feel calmer here than I ever did at home?" she asked quietly.
Silas didn't look at her when he answered.
"Because you are not forcing yourself to be something you are not."
She frowned slightly. "I wasn't pretending."
"Yes," he said gently. "You were."
The words should have stung.
But they didn't.
They felt... true.
Athena let out a small breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"I always felt like I had to be careful," she admitted. "Like if I was too loud, too emotional, too much... something bad would happen."
Silas's jaw tightened slightly.
"No one should make you feel that way."
She shrugged. "I don't think anyone meant to."
They walked a few more steps in silence.
Athena noticed something else.
She wasn't tired.
Not physically.
But emotionally.
Like the constant pressure she'd lived under had been lifted without her realizing it.
She tilted her head slightly. "Is this what normal feels like?"
Silas finally looked at her.
"No."
She blinked. "No?"
"This is what peace feels like."
Her chest tightened.
No one had ever described her feelings so simply before.
She didn't know what to say to that.
So she smiled faintly instead.
And for the first time since she had been taken from her home...
The smile was real.
Silas saw it.
And something in his chest settled.