The Sentinels Bravery only means something to those afraid of death.

An epiphany. One that shattered him so much that he felt like he might crumble before her. Dacio would never forgive Rusalka for what it did to bring about Drageda's downfall, but as he lifted his gaze and found a hawkish stare looking back at him, he did wonder if he could forgive Raleska.

Guilty by association, as they both were. It wasn't enough reason to hate.

He sagged, fanned his charcoal ears backward at her enquiry. Dacio had brought harm to her once before, unprovoked, and those he assumed to be her guards had damaged him in return. He found himself searching for the scars he bore her, pastel eyes roving her body in the darkness as she shifted. "No," he told her, a single-worded vow. Not again.

Never again.