They made it back to the fortress before dawn, exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with the miles walked and everything to do with the weight of a face that wasn't supposed to exist wearing her own. Alistair posted extra guards at every entrance, said little, and for once Eva didn't push him to say more. Some nights needed silence more than answers.
By midday, though, the fortress had a way of pulling a person back into ordinary rhythms whether they were ready or not, and Eva found herself back in the kitchens, drawn by the smell of fresh bread and the sound of Kade losing an argument.
"I'm simply saying," he was insisting, perched on his usual counter, leg fully healed now and looking considerably more pleased with himself for it, "that a man who's survived a siege has earned the
