Night in the Spring Town should have been a sanctuary of quiet rest.
Inside room number one of The Slumbering Stag, Ana slept peacefully in her wicker crib. Her breathing was soft and rhythmic, her tiny fingers occasionally twitching atop the warm sheepskin blanket. On the dark wooden bed, Arvid lay flat on his back. His slender frame had finally surrendered to the exhaustion of a grueling journey. The scholar's chest rose and fell in a peaceful cadence—for the first time in months, his sleep was untroubled by the nightmares of Project Legion.
But beside him, Rhea Sudrath lay with her eyes closed, entirely awake.
