They broke camp before full light.
The cold had sharpened overnight. Frost edged the stones and turned the grass stiff underfoot. Kaelara gave only the necessary orders—check straps, douse the last embers, form up. Mira and her companion took the lead with the updated knowledge of the terrain around the old mining works.
The column moved in tight silence, horses' breath white in the air, hooves muffled by the thin crust of frost.
Aiden and Elizabeth rode side by side again. The heat from the previous night's watch had not faded; it sat under their skin like a second pulse. Every accidental brush of knee or boot carried deliberate weight.
When the trail forced them close between rock walls, Elizabeth's thigh pressed against his and stayed there longer than the path required. Neither of them shifted away. Aiden kept his eyes forward, but the awareness of her body next to his was constant.
