Chapter Seventy-Five: Zélie

Exhausted and traumatized, Zélie tries to sleep in the captain’s cabin but jolts awake from nightmares of Saran’s torture. Overwhelmed, she rushes to the deck, grounding herself in the ocean air and the moonlit sea while fighting panic and the memory of her wounds.

Roën approaches with his trademark humor, stained by the blood of interrogated soldiers. He notices Zélie’s scars and, in response to her anger, shows his own tally-mark scars from Sutōrī, each tied to a crewmate’s death. His openness reframes the conversation from banter to shared trauma.

Roën warns that fresh wounds can break fighters and presses Zélie to be honest about her readiness. Zélie admits her true goal isn’t revenge on Saran but protecting her people from annihilation. Roën agrees to proceed but insists she must not freeze in battle, blending pragmatism with a hint of belief in fate as “insurance.”

Their exchange briefly lightens as Roën jokes about the gods and his pay, yet he advises Zélie to talk to someone. Laughter returns to Zélie for the first time since her torture, and the moment steels her resolve despite her lost magic and fear of the coming fight.

Needing connection before the imminent assault, Zélie walks the corridor past Tzain’s and her own doors and chooses Amari. She knocks, and Amari’s warm greeting opens the space for Zélie to finally share the truth she’s been carrying.