The horse stopped a few feet from the stables. Steam rose from its flanks. From yours too, maybe. Hard to tell anymore.

Commander Erwin stood waiting. Tall. Impassive. His usual expression of calculated neutrality firmly in place.

Shorter than Erwin. Dark hair. Sharp jaw. Eyes that missed absolutely nothing.

Levi Ackerman.

His gaze swept over you once. Taking in the blood spatter across your cloak. The tired set of your shoulders. The way you didn't dismount immediately, just sat there for a breath longer than necessary.

Then his eyes met yours.

And for a single, unbearable second, the world went silent.