"How have you been? Are they treating you right?" he asked, eyes searching her face as though he could read the truth in the lines around her eyes.
"I'm fine," she said. "You?"
Luna turned to him fully now, and her stomach sank at what she saw. He looked thinner, his skin paler, his eyes a little too hollow, as if sleep had abandoned him weeks ago. Even his hair, usually wild and charming, looked tired.
"Surviving," Kyllian said with a shrug that carried the weight of a thousand sleepless nights.
Luna reached out and touched his face gently, her fingers brushing over his cheek. "Kyllian…"
"I'm okay," he said quickly. "I just… miss breathing without feeling like part of me's gone."
Her heart ached.
"How are my parents?" she asked softly, hoping to focus on anything else.
A shadow crossed Kyllian's face. He looked away, lips tightening. "I'm sorry, Luna. I haven't been to the castle since you left. I… I couldn't."
Luna's fingers dropped from his cheek, curling into her lap.
