The gates of Regina stood beneath the weight of night like something older than the city itself, iron and stone holding not merely structure but memory, the echoes of battles long buried beneath years that had dulled but never erased them.
A cold wind moved across the open ground before them, carrying with it a faint unease that settled beneath the skin rather than upon it, something unseen brushing past instinct like a warning whispered too softly to be ignored.
Alessandro stood just within the threshold, his posture firm, shoulders squared, though the tension in his stance spoke of more than readiness, something deeper pressing against the calm he forced himself to maintain.
His gaze remained fixed on the darkness beyond the gate, not searching blindly but waiting, as though he already knew what would step forward from it.
"…you came," he said quietly.
His voice carried weight.
