The Path of the Tear was less a trail and more a haunting. It led them through landscapes that seemed to hold their breath, forests where the leaves were a perpetual, dusty gold, untouched by season; across streams that flowed with water as clear and silent as glass. The air grew thinner, the light more diffuse, as if the sun itself was hesitant to shine too brightly here.
Elara moved with a new, humming awareness. The bond with Kael, though unspoken, was a constant low thrum in her blood, a compass needle forever pointing to his shadow. It made her stronger, her senses sharper, but it also split her focus. Part of her was attuned to the silent agony radiating from Kael as the heir’s distress pulled at him. The other part was locked on the man beside her, on the memory of their combined p
