Sofie's voice was quiet at first. A gentle murmur beneath the stars.
"He found me beneath a broken cart," she said. "I don't know how long I'd been there. Days maybe. I was hungry, cold, and too afraid to move. The war had just ended. Everyone else was running… but he was the only one walking toward the smoke."
She paused, watching her tea swirl slowly in its cup.
"When I looked up, I thought he was going to pass by like the others. Just another shadow with someplace else to be. But he stopped. Dropped to one knee. And without saying a word… he gave me a piece of bread."
Varion frowned, gruff but listening. Kael leaned forward, less playful now. Even the garden lights seemed to dim slightly, quieting for the story.
"He wrapped me in his coat—it was torn, bloodstained, but it was warm. He carried me for miles after that. I remember the crunch of dry leaves, the sound of his breathing. He didn't even know my name yet."
Sofie smiled faintly, blinking slowly.
"He bought me clothes—secondhand things from a traveling merchant. Mismatched, but clean. And when we finally found a roof—some half-collapsed shed with no doors, no heat—he gave me the only bedroll."
Lady Sera whispered, "What about him?"
Sofie looked up. "He slept on the cold floor. Every night."
Her eyes glistened now, but her voice never cracked.
"There was a night… I woke up and saw him sitting against the wall, watching the door. Like something might come through. Like he'd fight it if it did."
Kael smirked, nudging Sofie gently."He sits like he's expecting a demon to burst through the door… Honestly, if he ever smiled, I think the universe might glitch."
She laughed under her breath. "He fought thieves, once. Two of them. They tried to steal what little we had—he chased them off with a broken broom and a rusted pipe."
Sera blinked. "A pipe?"
"He used the pipe like it was a blade," Sofie said.
Her voice darkened slightly, like a cloud passing.
"Then came the monsoon."
The table fell silent again.
"The roof tore open like paper. The rain came sideways, like knives."
Sofie's voice was quiet, but steady.
"We tried to hold the walls together with rope and crates, but it didn't matter. That place… it just wasn't meant to last."
Her eyes drifted away—not toward anyone, but to something far, far off. The memory pulled her back.
She was there again.
The wind howled like a beast outside. The lantern had gone out hours ago. Everything was soaked. The floor shivered beneath them each time a gust slammed the walls. Klaus had shoved a crate against the door and tied the frame with splintering rope, hands bloodied from the effort. She remembered her fingers clutching the edges of a scratchy blanket, her small body shaking not just from cold—but fear.
Rain pelted sideways through the broken beams. The air tasted like rust and smoke. Somewhere, the roof cracked again.
"I was crying," Sofie said, softer now. Her hands clenched into her lap. "I thought we were going to die."
But Klaus had just sat beside her, soaked to the bone, arm around her shoulder. His voice had been calm. Unshaken.
"We'll move," he had said. "It'll be better somewhere else."
He'd said it like a promise. Like it was already true.
And somehow… she'd believed him.
"Days later, we found Elden Hollow. A tiny village tucked between hills and ash trees. Everything smelled like wildflower and woodsmoke. The people there—gods, they were so kind. They gave us bread, blankets, even a little tin stove to cook with."
Sofie's smile widened with memory.
"One of the bakers—her name was Aunty Dell—braided my hair every morning. Even the kids shared their toys with me."
"Sounds like a miracle," Sera murmured.
"It was," Sofie nodded. "But not everyone welcomed us."
She glanced at Varion meaningfully.
"The village chief… old man Tharven. He looked Klaus right in the eye and said, 'If you want to stay here, you earn it. We don't take in freeloaders.'"
Kael muttered, "Harsh."
Sofie smiled. "Klaus didn't flinch. Just dropped his pack right there in the mud and said, 'Give me anything. It shall be done.'"
Sera blinked. "That sounds like him."
"Turns out, anything meant digging irrigation trenches for two days straight. Then hauling firewood. Then clearing stone paths."
The table laughed lightly.
"And every day, Klaus did it. No complaints. Just that same tired half-smile and a bigger pile of chores. I'd watch him from the window, shoulders covered in dust, hands full of rope or tools."
Sofie stared at the table for a long second. Her voice softened to a whisper.
"We stayed for years."
She looked up at them, a faraway glimmer in her eyes.
"He worked in the fields with the other men. Always the last to leave. He'd share food with anyone who asked. The kids called him Windscar—said he looked like a knight out of one of their books."
She chuckled. "And every night, no matter how tired he was… he always brought me back something small. A flower. A carved stone. Once even a frog."
Kael groaned, "Don't tell me you kept it."
"I named him," she grinned.
They all laughed, even Varion—though his sounded more like a cough with pride tucked inside.
Then came silence again. Not awkward. Just still. The kind of quiet where stars feel a little closer.
Sofie looked up.
"I was just a kid. An orphan. But Klaus never treated me like a burden. He didn't pity me. He just… made me feel like I belonged. Like I wasn't broken."
She turned to Lady Sera.
Sera reached across the table and gently took Sofie's hand, squeezing it.
Kael grinned. "You know, I always thought you got weird around your 'special someone' because you were nervous."
"I'm not weird—"
"You were literally blushing while describing a frog. A frog!"
"That frog had personality!"
"Yeah, a prince in disguise, huh?"
Sofie rolled her eyes. "Keep it up, and I'll tell everyone about that time you cried over a video game."
Varion grunted again.
Everyone erupted into laughter—Sofie, Kael, even Lady Sera—and this time, when Varion tried to grunt again, it came out more like a tired chuckle.
And for a single, perfect moment beneath the moonlit canopy and floating lights, Sofie felt like the broken world had finally sewn one of its seams back together.
Sofie took a breath. The garden felt quieter now. Even the wind had gone still.
"At first, every day was the same in Elden Hollow," she said. "Klaus worked. I helped around the village, learned to read, draw water, cook. It was simple, but warm. The kind of days you don't realize are perfect until they're gone."
Kael leaned back on his elbows, chin tilted up at the stars. "Peaceful life, huh?"
Sofie nodded. "He laughed sometimes. Not a lot. But when he did… it was quiet. Like he wasn't sure he remembered how."
Lady Sera gave her a soft smile.
"But then," Sofie said, "he stopped talking to the villagers. Almost overnight."
Her voice dimmed. Everyone leaned in.
"It happened in the third year. I was thirteen, maybe. I remember picking herbs outside the bakery when the village chief's son and his friends came by. They were older. Entitled. They'd always made weird comments, but that day…"
Her hands gripped her skirt tightly.
"They cornered me. Said things I didn't understand at first.One of them reached for my arm. Another—" she cut herself off.
Kael's face darkened. Sera's hands froze mid-movement. And Varion—
The table cracked. Heat shimmered off the wood as steam curled up from his clenched fist. The plates shook violently.
Kael flinched. "Father—!"
Lady Sera, ever elegant, reached out and smacked Varion's hand with a flick of her fingers.
"Control yourself, darling," she said lightly.
Varion grunted but slowly unclenched his hand. The heat died, but the garden had already turned tense.
Sofie continued, her voice quiet but unwavering.
"They would've hurt me. I know that." Sofie's voice shook, but her eyes were steady now. "But Klaus… he was there."
She paused, as if replaying the moment in her mind.
"I didn't even hear him coming. One second, I was crying—terrified and alone—and then... there was this sound, like the air itself snapped. And they stopped laughing."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I looked up, and he was just standing there, between me and them. Not saying a word. Just... there. Like the storm had dropped him in just to stop it all."
Kael let out a stunned breath.
Varion muttered, "And what happened
after?"
Sofie's lips curled into a soft smile, the kind that only surfaces when a memory warms the heart. "He knelt down beside me," she said quietly, "still breathing hard from the fight. His knuckles were bruised, and his shirt was torn, but… he looked at me like none of that mattered."
She blinked, her smile trembling. "And then he said—''Even if the whole world turns against you, I'll still be here.''
For a moment, the room was silent.
"He didn't say it to be strong. He said it like it was just a fact," Sofie added, her voice barely above a whisper. "And somehow… that made it the safest thing I'd ever heard."
Sera smiled gently from her seat. "Alright, that's enough for tonight. Let's head in soon."
Before Sofie could respond, Varion and Kael leaned in from both sides and crushed her in a dramatic group hug.
"Too tight—! I'm not a sandwich!" she gasped, flailing a little.
Sera chuckled behind her tea cup.
Sofie, squished but smiling, leaned into them and whispered, "You two are ridiculous." But her heart was full.