Mercer returned to Verath Hollow to find the city settling into its familiar rhythm, Isla managing council business with her usual steady competence, young Elena growing steadily under Tamsin's devoted, if unconventional, auntie-like attention. He shared the full account of Drake's transformation with his closest circle, watching genuine hope replace years of careful wariness about the Northern Territory.
"If Drake's genuinely changed," Wren said, during one of their regular evening gatherings, "that suggests something remarkable about mercy's power, beyond simply your own personal journey."
"I think it suggests exactly what the Ledger originally tried to teach me," Mercer said. "That patient, honest choice, consistently maintained even under genuine pressure, can transform circumstances
