I keep the cane because the estate demands order, and Colin is the one who must answer for its survival. The fading halls have no other guardian left, and my position depends on the discipline only this cane can enforce.

He walks into the registry room at midday with that hitch in his stride, already softening under the weight of what I will ask. His clipped obedience hides the grief that matches my own fear of abandonment.

My scarred palm rests on the wood as I watch him, knowing his submission is both the salvation and the forbidden thing I cannot name. I have not yet given the order to bare himself, but the silence between us promises that when I do, neither of us will remain unchanged.