The words hung in the air like a fragile thread, trembling yet unbroken.
"You're my son." Aurelia whispered, almost dazed,her voice was soft, trembling with a mixture of disbelief and tenderness.
Her lips parting around the words as though they had slipped free of their own accord
She had spoken without thought, her heart ahead of her reason, her soul reaching out where her mind still hesitated.
Valeric's lips curved into that adoring, bright, and startling innocent smile. The sort of smile only a child could wear, that lit his sharp Stormborne features.
For a moment, the storm in his eyes softened, Yet in that innocence lay a glimmer of something unspoken, something that brushed against the edge of fate.
And he leaned closer as if to drink in her warmth.
"Yes," he said softly, his voice warm, assured, unshaken by the weight of her claim. "I am your son."
The words slipped from him like a secret vow. Aurelia's heart fluttered, startled, but comforted.
