Brie's POV
I walk for two hours. The forest smells like wet leaves and old bark, which is fine. Better than fine. By the time the trees thin into the deep terrain and the boulders rise out of the ground like grey teeth, the pack is gone from my nose entirely. Just stone, just moss, just the cold off the rock face. My shoulders drop without me telling them to.
I leave the festival the way I leave most things. Through a gap nobody is watching, without saying goodbye to anyone, head down until the lanterns are behind me. I do not go looking for Alpha Heir Damien to thank him. He is a variable I cannot control and I have enough of those tonight.
I count every hundred steps to keep my mind sharp and away from the ringing in my ears that lingers after the festival’s noise.
I reach the deep t
