(I literally have no clue what I wrote so bare w me 😭)

“I saw the whole thing,” she wept in front of me, hands buried in her tangled auburn hair, now streaked with soot. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed—so much that I thought she could fill a sea with her tears.

“Shhhh,” I whispered, an attempt at comfort. Even in distress, she was breathtaking—her bright blue eyes, glossy and drowning in sorrow. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” I repeated, reaching out to smooth a hand over her hair.

She peeked up at me, those wonderful eyes locking onto mine, her cheeks flushed red beneath the freckles splattered across her face. “It’s not okay,” she murmured, shaking her head. “It will never be okay. Not today. Not tomorrow.”

“Yes, it will,” I corrected her, softly but firmly. I needed her to believe that. I needed something to cling to—something that wasn’t just death and despair. “You’ll see.” A sad smile ghosted my lips. “I’ll show you.”

“How?” she choked out. “I watched them die, Samuel.” Her breath hitched, her body trembling. “There is no coming back from that. No more happiness. No more anything—just death.”

I understood. They were her parents, fallen before her in a battle we had created. No amount of sympathy could lessen her grief.

I took a slow, steadying breath and crouched beside her. Her hands still pressed to her cheeks, small gasps escaping her lips. “We’ll figure it out,” I said, though the words felt hollow.

Because what was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t bring her parents back. Or her sisters. Or anyone my soldiers had slaughtered.

This was my fault. There was no figuring it out.

Finally—finally—she looked at me with some small, fragile fragment of hope. “You promise?”

I shivered. The lie formed on my lips before I could stop it.

“I promise.”

I couldn’t bring her family back to life, but I would do everything in my power to make it right again.

For her.

For us.

For this kingdom’s future.