After a night filled with strange feelings and quiet tears, morning ca anyway.
The sky outside the palace windows had barely lightened when Ezra opened his eyes.
For a mont, he didn’t move.
He just listened.
Lior was still asleep beside him, breathing slow and even. The color had returned to his cheeks. The faint crease between his brows from yesterday’s exhaustion was gone.
’He looks better,’ Ezra thought, relief washing over him again. ’Thank Aurethys.’
Carefully, he slipped out of bed and began preparing for the joint eting.
The Sunward Sentinels. The Ember Guard. The Dawnward Bloom.
All in one field.
It would be tense.
He dressed quietly, adjusting the clasps of his uniform with practiced hands. Before leaving, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Lior’s head.
No witnesses.
Just him.
And his little boy.
Lior stirred faintly but didn’t wake.
’We’ll talk after the eting,’ Ezra thought. ’I’ll make sure I give him the biggest hug.’
He straightened, squared his shoulders, and stepped outside.
Only to be greeted by a sight that made him close his eyes briefly in resignation.
"Captain Ezra, again, I’m really, really, really sorry!"
Fizzy was on his knees.
On the ground.
Groveling.
"Fizzy..." Ezra said, rubbing his temple. "We already went through this yesterday. I told you—"
"I haven’t slept properly, Captain!" Fizzy blurted out, still kneeling. "I felt imnse guilt. I truly did not think Lior would get sick from candy. I tried to monitor how much he was eating. I calculated it in my head—"
"Fizzy."
"—and I promise I will never let him eat that much again, and I will prepare balanced als, not overly strict, but nutritious enough that he won’t resent , and I swear on my life I will never trip and lose him agai—mmph!"
Ezra leaned down and covered Fizzy’s mouth with his hand.
Fizzy blinked up at him, eyes wide and slightly teary.
Ezra forced the kindest smile he could manage, even though he was seconds away from being late.
"Fizzy," he said slowly, clearly. "I forgive you. I forgave you yesterday. Lior is not angry. I am not angry. It was a mistake."
Fizzy’s eyes softened, though the guilt was still there.
"I’m going to remove my hand," Ezra continued calmly. "You may speak. But you will not ramble. You will not apologize again. And you will stand up before soone walks by and assus I’ve reduced my subordinates to tears. Understood?"
Fizzy nodded eagerly.
Ezra studied him for a second longer before removing his hand.
’Please be calm,’ he prayed silently. ’I can’t take another ramble.’
Fizzy stood up slowly, brushing his knees off. His head remained lowered, but his voice was steadier this ti.
"I’m sorry for rambling," he said quietly. "I’ve taken care of children before. Many of them. And this is the first ti one has gotten hurt under my supervision." He swallowed. "And it was the child you personally brought here."
Ezra exhaled.
He stepped forward and patted Fizzy’s shoulder.
"Fiz," he said gently, "one thing I’ve learned while taking care of Lior is that experience does not make you immune to mistakes. No one is perfectly prepared. No matter how smart you are. No matter how careful."
He paused.
"Taking care of a child is difficult. You can do everything right and still get blindsided by sothing small."
Fizzy sniffed slightly. "I cannot imagine the Crimson Fae struggling with anything."
Ezra let out a short laugh.
"Oh, let tell you sothing now," he said dryly. "I would rather fight a hundred Dark Ones alone than negotiate with a four-year-old who refuses to sleep."
Fizzy blinked. "Really?"
Ezra t his eyes.
"...Really."
Four years ago...
"Waah! Waaaah! Waaaaah!"
The sound filled the small room like it had claws.
Ezra stood over the handmade bassinet, staring at the tiny red face scrunched in distress.
"What am I doing wrong?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Wahhh! Waaah!"
His head throbbed.
He hadn’t slept. Not properly. Not even a little. Every ti he closed his eyes, the crying would start again.
"Lior..." His voice cracked. "I just fed you. You just woke up. Why are you crying?"
There was no answer.
Only more crying.
Loud. Sharp. Endless.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
Ezra’s hands trembled at his sides. He had faced Dark Ones without flinching. He had bled without making a sound.
But this?
This felt like drowning.
’What if I’m doing everything wrong?’ he thought, panic rising in his chest. ’What if he’s in pain and I can’t tell?’
He leaned over the bassinet again, checking the swaddle. It was secure. Not too tight. He had morized the way the cloth was supposed to sit.
"Please," he begged softly. "Please just stop."
The crying only grew louder.
His breath beca uneven.
’I can’t even understand my own child,’ he thought helplessly. ’How am I supposed to protect him from anything?’
He reached down and carefully lifted the tiny bundle into his arms.
Lior felt so small.
So impossibly small.
His little fists were clenched. His face flushed. Tears stread down his cheeks as if the world had ended.
Ezra pressed the baby against his chest, awkward at first. He adjusted his grip, terrified of holding him wrong.
"I’m here," he whispered shakily. "I’m here. I’m not leaving."
But the crying continued.
It echoed off the walls. It pierced straight through him.
Ezra sank down onto the edge of the bed, rocking without even realizing he was doing it.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
"Please," he whispered again, voice breaking. "I don’t know what you want. I don’t know what to do."
Present.
’God,’ Ezra thought, rubbing the back of his neck lightly. ’I really had no idea what I was doing back then.’
He had been exhausted. Emotional. Completely unprepared.
And to be fair to himself, he had just gone through childbirth. His body had been weak, his mind fogged, and no one had ever taught him how to take care of a newborn. Knights were trained to wield swords, not cradle infants.
He had learned everything through trial and error.
Through panic.
Through tears.
Through the kindness of a few older won in a quiet village who had taken one look at him and said, with a sigh, "Give him here. You’re holding him wrong."
It turned out Lior had not been hungry.
Or in pain.
He had simply wanted to be carried.
’That was all,’ Ezra thought, a faint smile tugging at his lips. ’He just wanted to hear my heartbeat.’
He looked at Fizzy now, who still seed like the world had ended over a bit of candy.
"Don’t worry anymore, Fizzy," Ezra said gently. "Alright?"
Fizzy nodded, though his shoulders were still stiff with guilt.
"I made far worse mistakes when Lior was younger," Ezra admitted. "You have no idea." He let out a soft breath. "Your heart was in the right place. That’s what matters."
Fizzy’s eyes widened slightly. "You...made mistakes too?"
Ezra gave him a look. "I’m human."
That seed to ground him.
"O-Okay, Captain," Fizzy said, nodding more firmly this ti.
"Good." Ezra straightened slightly. "I need to go. The eting won’t wait for ."
He glanced briefly toward the room where Lior was still asleep.
’Stay resting,’ he thought quietly. ’Just a little longer.’
"Once he wakes up," Ezra continued, turning back to Fizzy, "soft food only. Light als. No sugar. The doctor was clear."
Fizzy nodded quickly. "Yes. Light food. I’ll watch him."
"And tell him where I am," Ezra added. "If he asks. Don’t let him think I disappeared."
His voice was calm, but sothing softer lingered underneath.
"And try not to let him run around too much," he finished. "He’ll claim he’s fine. Don’t believe him."
Fizzy let out a tiny, relieved laugh. "I got you."
Ezra gave him a small smile in return.
That had to be enough.
"I’ll be off, then."
Ezra stepped away from the room with one last glance over his shoulder.
The corridor outside Helios’s chambers felt different in the morning.
Brighter. Quieter.
Almost dostic in a way that made him feel... misplaced.
Lior was sleeping in one of Helios’s rooms.
Helios’s palace.
’This is strange,’ Ezra admitted to himself as he walked. ’But then again, I should just be grateful that Helios let Lior rest here in a room far better than ours.’
Not tucked away sowhere distant.
Not hidden in a spare wing.
Here.
Close.
The thought did sothing to his chest. He didn’t let himself linger on it.
Maids moved about with trays of tea and folded linens. The mont they noticed him, their steps faltered.
"Captain Ezra—"
"Welco back—"
"We’re glad you’ve returned—"
Their voices overlapped softly. A few giggled behind their sleeves. Others leaned toward one another, whispering far less subtly than they probably intended.
"He looks the sa."
"No, he looks better."
"I heard His Highness personally—"
Ezra kept his face composed.
He inclined his head politely. "Thank you."
Short. Controlled. Proper.
Inside, though, sothing tightened.
’I didn’t miss this,’ he thought. ’The staring. The whispers.’
He had always drawn attention. A knight close to Helios. A face people liked to talk about. It ant maids hovered, rumors circulated, eyes lingered longer than necessary.
It had never felt flattering.
Only tiring.
He did not slow down. He did not encourage conversation. He offered the bare minimum of courtesy and continued forward.
’I don’t have ti for this,’ he reminded himself.
As far as he knew, Helios had already left for the eting grounds. Which ant the other princes were likely on their way as well. Being late would only invite unnecessary comntary.
He passed beneath the final archway. The air shifted cooler as he approached the palace exit. The guards snapped straighter at the sight of him.
Ezra stepped outside.
And stopped.
’Oh no.’
There was a man standing just beyond the steps.
Still. Waiting.
The early sunlight cast long shadows across the courtyard, cutting sharply along the stone. The figure stood where the light t shade, face partially obscured.
But Ezra didn’t need a clear view.
He recognized the stance.
The build.
The presence.
This was not a stranger.
A cold awareness crept up his spine.
’Why is he here?’
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