Kane's grip tightened on the letter until the paper crinkled.
"Take me to her," Kane said. "Now."
They rode back to Dustbridge through the night, exhaustion forgotten in the urgency of another unresolved thread suddenly pulling taut. Reeve met them at the gate, tension plain on his face.
"She's waiting in the grain store," Reeve said. "Came alone, unarmed, insisted on speaking with you directly and nobody else first."
"Alone," Cassius repeated, suspicious. "After everything we've faced, someone walks in alone and expects trust."
"She didn't ask for trust," Reeve said. "Just an audience."
Kane dismounted, exhaustion still dragging at his limbs, and made his way toward the grain store with Talyn and Senna close behind. Inside, a woman sat calmly at the table, dark-robed, her presence c
