The golden light of Oakhaven felt different after the Maintainer vanished. It was no longer the soft glow of a sanctuary but the sharp yellow of an exposed secret. Elara stood in the center of her garden.
Her boots pressing into the wet soil that had so effectively swallowed the iron logic of the outside world. She looked down at the spot where the silver shears had been. Only a cluster of resilient wild violets remained, their tiny heads nodding in a breeze that tasted of iron and impending rain.
Julian was beside her, leaning his weight on the wooden fence. He didn't look like a king, but he didn't quite look like a simple gardener either. The way his eyes scanned the treeline suggested a commander waiting for the next cavalry charge. He held a wooden bucket filled with water, his kn
