Rain had a way of stripping power down to essentials.
Anna learned that within the first hour.
It soaked through borrowed wool and unfamiliar leather, seeped into seams that had never been sealed against magic, and chilled the skin with an honesty no formation could soften. This world did not negotiate. It accepted you as you were—or it didn’t.
She and Lexus walked along the packed-earth path toward the heart of the settlement, boots sinking slightly with each step. No one stopped them yet, but they were being seen. She felt it in the pauses, the half-turns, the subtle recalibration of space as people adjusted their routes to observe without staring.
A woman passed them carrying a bucket slung low on her hip. Her eyes flicked briefly to Anna’s belt, then to Lexus’s shoulders, then away
