The sun rose over Lena Voss's camp, its light feeling more gentle and uplifting compared to the weighty days that had passed.
The merchants moved through their preparations with visible relief, hitching wagons and loading supplies with none of the tense, careful quiet that had settled over the camp since the discovery of the merchant token in the pass.
Word had spread through the group overnight, though nobody spoke it aloud in so many words. They were leaving Ashwood Pass behind, and whatever had happened here would remain here, unresolved but no longer their problem to carry.
The missing merchant was never found. No trace of him surfaced before the caravan finished its preparations, and by the time the wagons began moving, most of the group had quietly accepted that no trace ever would.
