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The rain had turned to a fine mist by the time I walked out of The Downy Loft, arm-in-arm with Finn. He hadn’t said exactly where we were going, only that I should look my best. He had put on a clean shirt and run my brush through his hair.
We wandered up the side street where we’d been staying. I studied each building we passed, better able to see them now than when we’d come into town in the rain. The buildings were a bit sadder than I’d thought, with the mortar between the stones crumbling. The paint on the doors peeled away in places, and the shutters all had heavy hooks on the inside, as though ready to be locked against a terrible storm at a moment’s notice.
“Are most towns this sad?” I leaned in close to whisper in Finn’s ear.
“Only the ones who have an army camped on their d
