The road out of Toradol was quiet in the way that came after something terrible.

  Not peaceful. Just subdued.

  Broken cart wheels had been dragged off the path. Burn marks still scarred the stones where pitch had spilled and caught. A few farmers stood in their fields pretending not to stare as the escort passed.

  Sei walked near the middle of the group, hands in his coat pockets, shoulders loose in a way that fooled no one.

  “Well,” he said lightly, “on the bright side, no one’s tried to kill us yet. Strong start.”

  No one laughed.

  Eva glanced back at him. Not annoyed. Not amused. Just… watching.

  Sei noticed. Pretended not to.

  It happened an hour later.

  No ambush. No scream.

  Just a man slumping sideways off his mule like his bones had decided, all at once, that they were finished cooperating.

  Sei was moving before the body hit the ground.

  “Lay him flat—no, head lower—yes, like that,” he said, voice snapping into clarity. “You, step back. Give him air.”

  The man was conscious. Pale. Lips tinged faintly blue.

  Internal bleed, Sei thought immediately. Abdominal trauma. Slow. Insidious.

  The worst kind.

  “Hey,” Sei said, crouching beside him. “Stay with me. What’s your name?”

  “…Marlen,” the man whispered.

  “Okay, Marlen. You’re doing great. Keep breathing. Don’t rush it.”

  Sei worked fast. Pressure where he could apply it. Positioning to slow the bleed. Hands steady despite the faint tremor in his wrists.

  For a moment—just a moment—it worked.

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  Marlen’s breathing evened. His pulse strengthened.

  Then it slipped.

  Sei felt it before he saw it. That subtle loss of resistance. The body giving ground.

  His jaw tightened.

  Not here. Not like this.

  He leaned closer, hands firm against Marlen’s side, mind racing through options he already knew wouldn’t matter.

  And then—

  Warmth.

  It bloomed beneath his palms, faint but undeniable. Not heat. Not pain.

  A presence.

  Sei froze.

  His breath caught, shallow and sharp.

  No. Not this again.

  The sensation lingered, patient. Waiting.

  Marlen’s breathing hitched.

  Sei swallowed hard.

  If I pull back, he dies.

  If I don’t… I don’t know what happens.

  “Marlen,” he said quietly. “Listen to me.”

  The man’s eyes fluttered open.

  “I… I can’t—”

  “I know,” Sei said. His voice shook, just a little. “I’m going to try something. I don’t understand it. I can’t promise it’ll help.”

  Marlen’s gaze fixed on him, glassy but focused.

  “…Do it,” he whispered.

  Consent.

  Sei exhaled slowly.

  He didn’t reach for the warmth.

  He stopped resisting it.

  The sensation flowed—not outward, not violently—but inward first, threading through his arms like a pulse finding a rhythm. A dim, uneven light leaked through his fingers, pale and unsteady, as if unsure it was allowed to exist.

  Eva stiffened.

  She had seen magic.

  Fire roared. Lightning cracked. Shields flared and shattered.

  This—

  This stayed.

  The light didn’t burn. Didn’t spread.

  It held.

  Marlen gasped, a sharp intake of air, then another—stronger. Color crept back into his face, faint but real.

  The bleeding slowed.

  Not gone.

  Slowed.

  Sei’s knees buckled.

  Eva was there instantly, one arm catching him before he hit the ground.

  “Easy,” she said, low and controlled.

  Sei retched once, dry and violent, body trembling as if he’d run miles instead of knelt for minutes. His head rang. His skin felt too tight, too loud.

  “What—” he started, then stopped. Swallowed. “What did I do?”

  Eva didn’t answer immediately.

  She looked at Marlen. Breathing. Alive.

  Then at Sei’s hands.

  The light was gone.

  “Later,” she said finally. “Right now, breathe.”

  They made camp early.

  Marlen slept, stable enough to move at dawn. The others gave Sei space without being told to.

  He sat alone by the fire, staring into the embers like they might rearrange themselves into something that made sense.

  “That wasn’t nothing,” he said quietly.

  Eva sat beside him.

  “No,” she agreed.

  He glanced at her. “You’re not going to tell me I imagined it, are you?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” he muttered. “I’d hate to add ‘hallucinations’ to the list.”

  She almost smiled. Almost.

  Instead, she said, “Don’t do that again unless you have to.”

  Sei looked up, surprised.

  “Because it’s dangerous?”

  Eva met his eyes, expression unreadable.

  “Because if I’m right,” she said, “you won’t be allowed to do it quietly.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  “…You’re going to tell the king,” Sei said.

  “Yes.”

  “And the council.”

  “Yes.”

  He leaned back, staring up at the darkening sky.

  “Figures,” he sighed. “First time I try something reckless, it saves a life. That’s usually how it goes, right?”

  Eva stood.

  “Rest,” she said. “Tomorrow will be worse.”

  After she left, Sei lay awake long after the fire burned low.

  His hands still felt warm.

  Not comforting.

  Just… present.