The Thornfield border settlement was significantly smaller than the official council maps had suggested.
Forty citizens was a highly generous administrative count. Sera had completed a methodical circuit of the desolate perimeter on her very first afternoon and come up with exactly thirty-six adults, along with a variable number of feral children who didn't stay still long enough to number accurately. The primary administrative building was constructed of rough, ancient stone: two storeys high and permanently drafty in a way that felt like a structural choice rather than a seasonal inconvenience. The surrounding cabins were a messy mix of abandoned pack infrastructure and crude, newer additions that didn't match the masonry.
It was functional. It was freezing. But it was hers. For now, t
