Terra
The guards gave only cursory acknowledgment of my departure on foot, long accustomed to my moonlit ramblings when sleep proved evasive.
For once Nathan's overprotectiveness played in my favour - he rarely sent escorts to trail my steps anymore, trusting the estate's security and my own combat expertise.
As long as I returned before first light, I would attract no suspicion.
The brisk autumn air helped clear the jumbled anxiety and anger churning through me as I slipped through the shadowy woods with directionless urgency. Crunching leaves and hooting owls soothed my restless spirit. Out here surrounded only by towering pines standing silent witness, the suffocating estate politics and posturing retreated some. I could breathe.
But wandering aimlessly brought me no true peace. M
