Private When The Truth Comes Out

[Irina Jesart]

Irina's eyes widened. The possibility that Aerik might shut her out in such a manner cut deeper than any blade might have. It was something she never considered because it was not something she would do.

Lips parted in a soft intake of breath that found her throat raw, emotion welling in her chest, making her eyes glisten. The careful mask and emotional barriers that normally existed in Gerwald's presence were gone, stripped away by the weight of the quiet conversation.

She swallowed, blinking back tears.

"Then I will have to accept his choice to keep me in the dark."

What choice did she have?

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald watched the realization land, and this time he did not look away from it. The shift in her expression was subtle, but it carried more weight than any outburst she might have given him. The holotable’s light moved across her face, catching the shine in her eyes before sliding past again, indifferent to the moment unfolding beside it.

He had seen soldiers break under less.

For a brief moment the Dread Wolf considered stepping closer, offering something steadier than silence, but he let the impulse pass. Comfort had never been the lesson. Endurance had. Still, there was no triumph in what she had just accepted. Only understanding, and the quiet cost that came with it.

Her words settled between them, and he inclined his head once in acknowledgment.

“That is often the harder path.”

His hand returned to the edge of the holotable, fingers resting there without tension as the projection shifted beneath them. The war continued to move, vectors adjusting, fleets aligning, the galaxy refusing to pause for the private weight of two people standing in its shadow.

Gerwald studied her for another breath. The mask she normally carried in his presence had fallen away, and he did not rush to force it back into place. She had earned this moment, whether she realized it or not.

He straightened slightly, the air between them changing as purpose returned to the room.

“Is there anything else you wish to ask,” he said, the question deliberate, the invitation unmistakable, “because this is the time.”

The words did not carry urgency, but they held finality. Whatever answers she sought now would be given while the door stood open, before duty and distance closed it again.

 

[Irina Jesart]

The projection continued to roll, war waited for no one and the shifted of light between them reminded her of that, of the coming battle. Her remembered too, his posture shifting, straightening in a way that told her the lesson was over, that the knowledge he had wanted to impart had landed where he needed it to.

When the invitation to ask more was presented, Irina did not answer immediately. there were a dozen things she wanted to know, like how Naedira Darcrath had been brought back, how he had survived, if the presence she had felt in the memory was who she suspected it to be. If the Nocna Mora was why Aerik was so different from him. But as each question rolled through her mind, she realised she was not ready to carry the weight of the answers.

Today was enough.

"Not today." she said shaking her head slightly. She took a deep breath shoulder sagging slightly as she turned to face the projection.

Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Irina Jesart

Gerwald watched the decision settle in her. The change was subtle, but it carried weight. When she turned back toward the projection, the Dread Wolf straightened, the quiet signal that the lesson had ended and something more tangible had begun. The holotable continued its slow rotation, light sliding across the war room walls and over the scars carved into the Spire long before Irina had ever stood within it.

Five years.

Not the academy's version of refinement or obedience, but something harder earned through failure, endurance, and choices made without safety nets. He remembered the first day he had taken her from Eliad, the fury that had burned unchecked then, the way the academy would have tried to shape it into something brittle. She would not have survived there. Not like this.

Here, she had learned to carry her anger without letting it rule her. She stood now with her shoulders squared, breathing steady, no longer asking for permission to face what came next.

"Then it’s time."

His hand left the edge of the table, the projection continuing without him as fleets aligned and timers advanced. The war waited for no one, but for the first time he did not feel the need to stand alone before it.

"You are ready," he said, the words spare but deliberate, offered without ceremony because they did not need one.

Golden eyes lingered on her a moment longer, not as a master measuring a student, but as a commander acknowledging someone he trusted to stand beside him.

"Focus the anger you carry, and do not turn it inward. Let it guide you to your enemy and nowhere else."

The room felt quieter then, not because the war had paused, but because the past had finally settled into place.

"Go and prepare," he said. "We move soon."