Roland had been standing at the front gates of the castle for almost an hour when two black SUVs finally appeared from the bend in the road, and he just realized he had been holding his breath the whole time.
Light snow fell over the roofs of Iron Hearth. He tried to act casual, hands shoved into his coat pockets, shoulder leaning against the stone pillar, but every time an engine sound echoed from afar, his head turned faster than he planned. Beside him, Seraphina stood with folded arms, observing his face without comment. She only occasionally glanced at Roland's shoes, which had practically dug a small trench in the snow out of pure restlessness.
"You're going to dig straight through to the dirt," Seraphina finally whispered.
"I'm thinking," Roland defended himself without looking back.
"With your feet?" Seraphina raised an eyebrow, clearly highly amused with herself.
