The cottage was quiet.
Sera sat at the kitchen table, a cup of cold tea in front of her, staring at nothing. Outside, the last of winter's snow was melting into mud, and the first green shoots of spring were pushing through the frozen ground. The children were playing in the yard — Lumi's laugh carrying through the window, high and bright and full of a joy she'd fought hard to earn.
Elara was with them.
Sera watched her through the glass. Twelve years old. Too thin. Too quiet. But healing. Day by day, the hollow look in her eyes was filling with something that might, one day, be peace.
*She looks familiar*, Sera thought. *She's always looked familiar.*
She'd told herself it was nothing. A trick of the light. The way all rescued children carried the same shadows in their eyes. But late
