The window was cold against her forehead, the stone worn smooth by centuries of hands that had rested here before hers. Elara stood in the narrow alcove, hidden from view, and watched the training yard below.
They did not see her. Kaelen and Rosalind never noticed her presence when they were in this state, completely absorbed in each other, with the outside world fading away until only the two of them remained. Kaelen and Rosalind. Kaelen was her brother, and Rosalind was the woman he had chosen.
They were sitting on a low stone wall at the edge of the yard, their shoulders touching, their hands clasped between them. The snow had begun to fall again, soft and lazy, dusting their hair with white. Neither of them seemed to notice. Neither of them seemed to care.
Elara smiled.
