Page 193 of The Shattered Rite

Then let me carry you. I will not let you fall.

She sagged forward, her cheek pressed to the smooth curve of his shoulder. Her eyes slid shut—not from sleep, but surrender.

And then, through the haze, something flickered.

Her mother’s silhouette.

She stood at the edge of the horizon, her form carved from shadow and sunlight, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

“I’m still here,” Eliryn breathed. It was not a vow. Not a plea.

Just a truth.

And as night closed over them, Vaeronth whispered back:

Then so is hope.