Aria

ng, I found th

d changed his mind. That Kael had relented, re

it open, I found a

a

n you think. Try to run agai

weight of threat stitched between the lines.

Storage-inventory root

down. Not from rage or fear. From

n't tr

't want

anted to

ed more than it swept. I moved through the house like a ghost, silent and watched. I never saw

sn't ki

surve

red and raw from scrubbing. But I didn't complain. I didn't even scream-

ld be th

robably

new note appe

ow. Do not enter the eas

w them at the wall, light them on fire. But instead, I

. No lock

e stripped

ifying part? I st

I didn't

nd the stone and shadow

sn't sure I coul

-

Kael

ob

urpris

iting. But instead, she moved through the house like smoke-p

submis

, in the way she gripped the broom like a weapon. She hated t

re already as

ear the north perimeter at daw

t explanation is dangero

s not

" he said. "And t

er. Because h

the trees had stilled. The mist had parted. And I'd felt it in m

ecies had

t pay it unle

rgan would stay exa

he liked

-

Aria

days p

guest only in name. That whatever kindness Kael had shown in th

muscles flexing beneath a leather strap as he swung a blade at a

could say I

I di

strike, head tilting slightly

the stones if they'd crack

did

-

Kael

it to the

w she

sharper blade th

dge of the forbidden hall. Her scent lingered in the air, tentati

e'd wa

me more than

given her to

idn't mean

-

Aria

the southern corridor when h

ith a

th a t

in p

issed

fr

dark hair wet from the rain outside. His shirt clu

d quietly, fingers t

. "You always do

when the person holding

d. "You think t

would you

tect

m wh

rkened. "Fr

ssed between us, thi

rned and w

of water dripping, and the sti

-

Kael

s unra

s usually did. Not w

eling was quiete

adap

list

watc

hing-something even she

ys ago. She would arrive soo

n, I would ke

t meant sh

o

here to

-

Aria

y, I stopped lo

se I had

the house di

re

ment I crossed certain thresholds, it felt like the hous

It ha

ted, livi

f it pressing on my chest. Like the walls were

d to tal

loud.

d, I whispere

er ans

-

Kael

dr

oesn't remember in the morning. Names I don't recognize.

he is-it's

s, I'll have to

in

rown

-

Aria

to the library o

decided to talk. To exp

opped a stack of b

ymbol. Don't tou

he pages shimmered. One of them

e they?"

dn't

er's in an hour.

le

was n

d stained the earth five days ago, ca

ng to believe the fo

-

Kael

touch the

ed more tha

n't what I wa

wasn't t

w what kind of

uld tell me wha

-

Aria

message etched into the

writ

rv

are locked. So

now if Kae

mething

e more than his

itorous part-was starting to wonder

claim

rn was just