Elara did not mean to begin watching them.
It happened gradually.
A pause too long when she entered a room. A glance exchanged between warriors when she asked simple questions. A subtle shift in posture whenever Kael’s presence entered the air before he physically did.
By the fourth morning, she stopped pretending it was a coincidence.
She found Asha in the eastern yard, sharpening a blade against a stone block. Frost clung to the warrior’s braids, her expression unreadable as always.
“You train every morning before sunrise?” Elara asked casually.
“Most mornings.”
“Why before dawn?”
Asha did not look up. “It’s easier to move before the shift.”
Elara’s heartbeat stuttered.
“The shift?”
The blade paused for half a second.
“Shift in patrol rotations,” Asha corrected smoothly. “Nig
