Chapter 58: A Kingdom's Goodbye
The courtyard was cloaked in early dawn's bruised light, half blue, half gold. Mist hung low, curling around the stone pillars like breath held too long. Horses snorted and pawed at the gravel as stablehands shuffled nervously in the shadows, heads low, eyes avoiding the sharp air of urgency.
Valerie tightened the saddle strap on her mare with swift, practiced hands. Her nightgown was gone—now she wore fitted riding leathers, the color of storm clouds, her silver hair braided down her back like a blade. Her gloves were soot-dark, cracked at the seams, and her shoulders rolled with purpose.
Beside her, Ben crouched by his pack, sliding small vials into loops and pockets. Oils. Tinctures. Venoms. A few throwing blades glinted in the cold light. He adjusted the straps of his harness with methodical precision, jaw tight, shoulders squared.
Neither of them spoke. Not yet. The silence between them wasn't awkward—it was steel being sharpened.
