Serena woke to the soft, rhythmic calling of a morning bird, its song echoing through the hollow of the weeping willow. As she blinked her eyes open, she was met with a sky painted in delicate slithers of pink and pale blue, the first rays of the sun creeping tentatively over the distant hills. It was a beautiful, tranquil dawn, but the peace vanished the moment she realized where she was.
She was not curled on the cold, damp grass by the fire. She was lying tucked comfortably into Valan’s bedroll, the thick furs retaining a lingering warmth that made her skin tingle. Valan was nowhere to be seen. The fire had died down to a pile of grey, smokey coals, and the horse was still tied securely to a nearby sapling, grazing on a patch of long grass. Valan’s travel packs were still neatly stacke
