They stopped at a careful distance from the perimeter, close enough for her father to see her clearly, far enough that Marrow's soldiers hadn't yet raised the alarm. Lord Ellery stood alone near a supply cart at the Shrine's edge, and when Luna finally closed the last of the distance, flanked by five men who radiated a silent, coiled readiness her father clearly felt even without looking at any of them directly, his composure cracked in a way she hadn't expected.
"Luna." Her name came out rough, older than she remembered him sounding, though it had only been six days. "You shouldn't be here."
"Neither should you," Luna said. "And yet."
Her father's eyes flicked, briefly, nervously, toward the Shrine's activity behind him, and lowered his voice to something barely above a whisper. "You n
