Mira looked up at him, her expression hollowed out by a sudden, permanent grief that refused his comfort. Soren met her gaze for a single second before turning back to the fallen soldier.
"He is alive," Soren stated, his voice flat with forced certainty. "He is going to be alright."
He knew the promise was empty even as he made it, but the alternative was a reality Mira could not bear while sitting in the dark of a ruined basement.
Soren turned to a guard who had rushed down the stairs behind him. "Fetch Aldwin," Soren commanded. "Bring every healer currently in the palace. Now."
The guard vanished back up the corridor without a word.
Soren stood up and turned to Eris. She remained motionless on her stone bench, the tears of blood dried into dark tracks down her cheeks, her small, frightened breaths the only sign of life.
