Lenora's POV
He came back.
I should have expected it — Cassian Moor was not a man who absorbed a setback and stayed absorbed. He came back to the confluence settlement on a market day, alone this time, no outriders, in a plain riding coat that was attempting and failing to disguise its quality.
He found me at the market stalls. He always found me, which was beginning to be its own answer about how much research he'd done.
"You're still here," he said, by way of greeting.
"Still here," I agreed, examining a bundle of dried rosehip without giving him my full attention.
"Most people leave after what happened at the ceremony."
"I'm not most people."
He fell into step beside me with the ease of a man who assumes his company is welcome until explicitly told otherwise. "I heard about the
