The morning came without a knock.
Aria woke to cold. The hearth had died in the night. Her breath hung in front of her face, thin and white, before vanishing. She flexed her fingers under the blanket. The cracks from the laundry water had begun to close. Her body was learning.
She knelt before the hearth. The flint slipped twice. On the third strike, a flame licked up through the kindling. She sat back on her heels and let the heat press against her cheeks.
The knock came as she was lacing her boots. She went to open the door.
Lina stood in the corridor with a cloth bundle and a smile already in place. "I missed you at breakfast. I brought bread."
She settled onto the edge of the mattress without being asked. "The servants were talking again. Selene dined with Kael last night, in his
