Chapter 91 MOTHER BY CHOICE
“Put her in a room where I can see her,” Adam said.
Kael stopped walking at once, turning back toward him.
“Adam—”
“I’m not asking,” Adam cut in. “I’m telling you to keep her close. Close enough that you can watch her. That should make you feel better, right?”
Kael studied him in silence. Adam’s face was pale, his eyes too sharp for someone who had just coughed up a huge lump of blood.
“You don’t trust me.”
Adam shrugged weakly. “I trust you to watch her. I don’t trust your temper.”
Sara stood a few steps behind them, hands folded neatly in front of her, shoulders slightly hunched. She looked smaller out of the cell, like someone who’s being too careful ‘cause she did not know where she was allowed to stand.
“I don’t want to cause trouble.” She quietly said.
“You’re not,” Adam said immediately. “You’re staying.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. He turned his gaze away from Adam, dragging in a slow breath before answering.
“There is a chamber near ours. Guarded. Supervised.”
Adam nodded. “Good.”
Sara lifted her head, eyes shining with something like relief. “I’ll accept any condition.”
Kael turned back to her, his expression hardening again. “You will not leave the wing without permission.”
“I won’t,” Sara said softly.
“You will be searched if you go out and come back with anything,” Kael continued. “If anything happens to him—”
“I understand,” she said. “I swear on the Moon.”
Adam turned to her. “You don’t have to swear.”
Sara smiled at him, small and tired. “I want to.”
The maids moved ahead to make arrangements. Kael stood still for a moment longer, watching Adam carefully, as if trying to read something he had missed… wondering when Adam started caring so much, or if Adam is finally accepting Sara as family.
—
Adam walked with Sara to the chamber after the maids said it was ready.
It was modest but warm, close enough that the door to his own wing was visible from the corridor. Guards stood at a respectful distance, pretending not to listen.
“I’m sorry,” Adam said as Sara set her small bundle down on the bed. “About everything. About… how he handled it.”
Sara turned to him slowly. “You don’t need to apologize for him.”
“He’s not cruel, I promise.” Adam said, rubbing his palm against his sleeve. “He just— he gets like that when he’s scared for me. He's just being protective.”
Sara smiled softly. “Then he must care for you very deeply.”
“He does,” Adam said without hesitation. “To a fault.”
“That kind of love can be heavy,” she said, then added gently, “but it’s better than being unloved.”
Adam nodded. “If he watches you too closely, it’s not because he hates you so please don't take it to heart.”
“I know,” Sara replied. “I’m glad he’s protective of you.”
Adam lingered a little longer, helping her arrange the blanket, placing the water pitcher closer to the bed, adjusting things he didn’t need to adjust. When he finally left, it felt strangely natural to return the next morning, and the one after that. From that day on, Adam found himself drifting into Sara’s chamber without thinking— sometimes to talk, sometimes just to sit. He told himself it was because she was under watch and it's the least he could do to make her feel more at ease. But comfort had a way of sneaking up on him when he wasn’t looking.
That was how he ended up sitting on the edge of her bed later on an afternoon, shoulders slumped, fingers gripping the fabric beneath him as if it might keep him upright.
“You should lie down,” Sara said.
Adam glanced at her. “I just sat up.”
“You look pale.”
“I always look pale.”
Sara ignored the comment and gently pulled the blanket higher, tucking it around him with practiced care. “Your feet are cold.”
Adam sighed. “You sound like Kael.”
Kael, standing by the door, said nothing.
Sara’s hands lingered for a moment before she drew back. “Did you eat?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“…Earlier.”
“How earlier?”
Adam hesitated, eyes unfocused as if searching through fog. “I don’t know. But I did eat, Kael wouldn't ever let me not eat.”
Sara clicked her tongue softly. “You can eat again.”
“He already ate.” Kael's voice cuts in, and they both turn to see him standing at the door.
Sara stiffened.
Kael shifted his weight, boots scraping lightly against the stone.
Sara looked up at him. “Thank you for letting me stay close.”
Kael’s voice was flat. “This isn’t kindness. It’s surveillance.”
Sara nodded. “I know.”
Adam frowned. “You don’t have to say it like that.”
Kael met his eyes. “I do.”
The silence that followed was heavy, the kind that pressed against Adam’s chest instead of settling.
Kael’s jaw was tight, his posture rigid, every instinct in him clearly torn between anger and fear. Adam looked away first, not because he had lost the argument, but because he was tired of standing in the middle of it. He didn’t want to choose sides. He just wanted some form of normalcy. He just wanted to feel normal for one day.
And despite knowing how Kael feels about Sara, Adam went back to Sara’s chamber again later, almost without thinking. She was sitting near the window, the light soft on her face, a bowl resting in her hands. The smell was mild, familiar, nothing sharp or overwhelming. She looked up when she noticed him and smiled the way people do when they’re relieved but trying not to show it.
Adam hesitated at the doorway, then stepped inside anyway. He sat on the edge of the chair, then shifted, then finally moved closer to the bed. “Can I eat with you?” Adam asked, probably with guilt of how Kael had shut her off earlier.
Sara didn’t say anything at first. She just adjusted the bowl and dipped the spoon, waiting.
“You don’t have to feed me,” Adam muttered.
Sara lifted the spoon anyway. “Open your mouth.”
“I can feed myself.”
She didn’t argue. She didn’t look offended. She just held the spoon there, patient, steady, like she had all the time in the world.
Adam stared at it for a long second, then sighed and leaned forward, opening his mouth.
The moment felt strangely intimate, more than it had any right to be. He told himself it didn’t mean anything. That it was just easier this way. That he was tired. That he didn’t want to fight anyone anymore.
But when the spoon touched his lips and the warmth spread through him, something in his shoulders loosened.
“You can,” she agreed. “But let me.”
Adam glanced at Kael, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes never leaving them.
“This is weird,” Adam said.
Sara smiled. “It is not.”
Adam opened his mouth. “Fine. One more spoon.”
Sara’s smile widened as she fed him carefully, watching his reaction closely.
Kael looked away, not liking the scene in front of him.