The column was formed, a living entity of leather, steel, and horseflesh, breathing plumes of vapor into the cold dawn. Kaelen's low command still hung in the air, a vibration in the stones. But before the first hoof could fall on the road north, there was a last, suspended moment.
Elara, already astride her spirited Nimbus, wheeled the horse in a tight, joyful circle before coming alongside me. Her face was alight, her earlier excitement tempered now into a fierce, shining happiness. This was no mere journey for her; it was a homecoming.
"Rosalind!" she said, her voice carrying in the hushed courtyard. She leaned over, her grey eyes serious for a heartbeat. "This is it. The last bit of south you'll see for a long while." Then her smile broke through again, radiant. "Are you ready?"
