Saoirse P.O.V
Cadryn found the fold in the ground before I did, a shallow depression behind a collapsed field wall, low enough to break the gate's sightline, close enough to hear anything worth hearing.
He moved into it without discussion, the decision already made somewhere behind his eyes, his body only now catching up.
I settled in beside him and let the cold stone at my back tell me how long we intended to stay.
The checkpoint hadn't changed in the twenty minutes since the guards' voices had drifted across to us.
Same two lanterns bracketing the gate.
Same rotation of bored, cold-footed men trading places with the economy of people who'd done this a thousand nights before.
Nothing about it looked like a place two travelers had passed through hours ago, asking after the East
