You survived.

That's what matters."

"Alive," Caden said, his tone making it clear that wasn't the victory she thought it was.

"Alive and broken. Alive and useless. Alive and missing pieces that I'll never get back."

"You're not useless," Yaelena said firmly.

"You're injured. There's a difference. The doctors say with the prosthetic and proper rehabilitation, you'll regain most of your capabilities. You can still have a full life, still serve in the military if that's what you want, still—"

"Still kill the half-blood who did this to me," Caden interrupted, his eyes finally moving to meet his mother's.

"That's what I can still do. That's what I'm going to do."

Yaelena's face went pale.

"No. Caden, no. You're not going back there. You're not pursuing this anymore."

"I'm absolutely pursuing this," Caden replied, his voice rising slightly.

"Did you think I'd just accept this? Accept being crippled and scarred and leave the person responsible unpunished?"

"He wasn't unpunished," Constance interjected from where she stood near the door.

"He nearly died too. And more importantly, the Council has decided not to pursue further operations in the desert. We're done with that region, done with the Sol'vur heir.

It's over."

"It's not over," Caden said, turning his fury on his sister.

"It won't be over until he's dead. Until he's suffered exactly what I've suffered. Until he knows what it feels like to lose everything."

Yaelena's hands trembled as she finally touched Caden's arm gently.

"Please. Please don't talk like this. I can't lose you. I can't watch you throw your life away chasing revenge that won't change anything."

"It'll change everything," Caden argued.

"It'll give meaning to this."

He gestured at his missing leg, his scarred torso.

"Right now, this is just defeat. Just humiliation. But if I use it as motivation to become strong enough to kill him, then it becomes the price I paid to eliminate a threat to the Empire. It becomes sacrifice instead of failure."

"It becomes an obsession," Yaelena said, her voice cracking.

"It becomes the thing that destroys you completely instead of just injuring you. I've seen it before, Caden. Soldiers who survive terrible wounds and spend the rest of their lives consumed by revenge.

They don't heal.

They don't move forward.

They just spiral deeper into darkness until there's nothing left of who they were."

Tears were streaming down her face now, though her voice remained steady.

"You're my son. I love you more than anything in this world. And I'm begging you, please don't let hatred consume you. Please don't turn this injury into something that kills you slowly from the inside."

Caden's expression softened fractionally seeing his mother cry, but the cold determination in his eyes didn't fade.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm sorry this hurts you.

But I can't just let this go. I can't pretend everything's fine and move on like none of this happened."

"I'm not asking you to pretend," Yaelena said desperately.

"I'm asking you to heal. To focus on recovery, on rebuilding your life, on finding purpose beyond revenge. You can still serve, still contribute, still make your Father proud without throwing yourself at an enemy who nearly killed you."

"Father is the reason I have to do this," Caden replied.

"He was killed by that bastard. I went after Jorghan and came back broken. If I don't finish what Father started, then all of this was for nothing.

All the pain, all the loss, and all the sacrifice mean nothing if we just give up."

"Your father wouldn't want this," Yaelena said, her voice becoming sharper despite the tears.

Caden shook his head.

"I don't want to—"

"Your father was a foolish man; the more you talk about him, the more I reveal of his ugly side to you," Yaelena interrupted.

"That revenge isn't worth dying for. That surviving and rebuilding is victory enough. That coming home to family is more important than killing enemies."

The medical ward went silent except for the sound of Yaelena's quiet crying.

Caden looked at his mother, at the woman who'd raised him, who'd supported his military career, who'd never once suggested he was inadequate or needed to prove himself. He saw her breaking, saw the fear in her eyes, and saw how desperately she wanted him to choose her over his hatred.

And he felt nothing but frustration that she couldn't understand.

"I love you, Mother," he said quietly.

"But I'm not giving this up. I can't. It's the only thing keeping me focused, the only thing preventing me from falling apart completely. If I let go of the goal of killing Jorghan, then what do I have? A missing leg and a scar and nothing to show for any of it except humiliation."

Yaelena stood slowly, her legs unsteady, her face showing the moment she realized she'd lost this argument before it even started.

"Then I've failed you. Failed to teach you that life has value beyond violence. Failed to show you that surviving is enough."

She turned away, unable to look at him anymore, her shoulders shaking with sobs she was trying to suppress.

Constance moved to her mother's side, wrapping her arms around Yaelena, holding her while she broke down. But Constance's eyes remained on her brother, and her expression had shifted from sympathy to something harder.

"Mother," Constance said gently, "let me take you back to your quarters. You need to rest."

"I can't leave him like this," Yaelena protested weakly.

"I can't just abandon him to his hatred."

"You're not abandoning him," Constance assured her.

"You're taking care of yourself so you can be strong enough to help him when he's ready to accept it.

Come on."

She guided Yaelena toward the door, supporting her weight, moving slowly to accommodate her mother's emotional state.

But at the doorway, Constance paused and looked back at Caden. Her expression was serious, carrying none of the sympathy she'd shown their mother.

"Listen to me, brother," she said, her voice cold and commanding.

"I understand your anger. I feel it too. Jorghan Sol'vur nearly killed both of us, and part of me wants nothing more than to go back there and finish what we started."

She paused, ensuring she had his complete attention.

"But I'm not going to let you destroy yourself chasing that goal. I'm not going to watch you throw away whatever life you have left because you can't let go of revenge.

So here's what's going to happen."

Her eyes hardened.

"You're going to complete your rehabilitation. You're going to learn to use the prosthetic until you can move almost like normal. You're going to process this trauma properly instead of burying it under hatred. And if, after all that, you still want to go after Jorghan, then we'll discuss it."

"We'll discuss it?" Caden's tone was mocking.

"You're not in charge of me, Constance."

"No, but I'm the only thing standing between you and Mother's complete breakdown," Constance replied bluntly.

"She's falling apart watching you spiral. If you want to destroy yourself, that's your choice. But I won't let you destroy her in the process."

She shifted her weight, and the movement suggested pain from her own injuries not yet fully healed.

"I made Mother a promise just now, even though she couldn't hear it through her crying. I promised I'd protect you. Not from external enemies, but from yourself. From the self-destructive obsession that's clearly taking over your judgment."

"I don't need your protection," Caden said coldly.

"Yes, you do," Constance countered.

"Because right now, you're not thinking rationally. You're thinking like someone consumed by trauma and looking for any target to blame for your pain. That's understandable, but it's not sustainable.

Eventually, it'll either kill you or hollow you out until there's nothing left."

She took a breath, then delivered her final point.

"So here's my warning, Caden. Cross the line, try to pursue Jorghan before you're physically and mentally ready, and I will stop you. I'll have you confined if necessary. I'll report you to superiors as mentally unfit for duty. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive and force you to heal properly."

"You wouldn't," Caden said, though his voice carried uncertainty.

"Try me," Constance replied.

"Test whether I'm more loyal to your self-destructive revenge fantasy or to keeping my family alive.

I promise you won't like the answer."

Constance was angry too, more than Caden, but she couldn't bear to watch her mother collapse before her. And the truth about their father—she wasn't sure about them, but she chose to believe her mother. Her lack of mourning said more than tears ever could, revealing the truth behind her words.

And with the empire standing, she wasn't sure about going after that monster Jorghan right now. She saw for herself just how terrifying he was. He killed an entire army on his own; such power couldn't be eliminated with just hatred alone.

For now, her thoughts included keeping her family together.

That's what mattered to her: family.

With that, she turned and guided their still-crying mother out of the medical ward, leaving Caden alone with his rage and his missing leg and the growing realization that everyone around him thought he was making a mistake.

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