Agnes received the message at sundown. Folded once, no seal, tucked into the lining of a supply crate that arrived through the eastern gate.
She burned the note in the fireplace, watched the paper curl black, and went to bed beside Garrett as if nothing had changed.
She left before first light.
✦✦✦
The forest north of Darkhowler's river bend was dense. But she moved quickly because she'd already mapped it two weeks ago.
He was waiting in the clearing with two guards flaking him at a distance. He looked thinner. Harder. Whatever had been stripped from him during exile had not taken the thing that made him dangerous. If anything, it had refined it.
"Father." She dipped her head. The deference was muscle memory. She had more versions of herself than most people had outfits, and she dressed for the occasion every single time.
"You look well. He's feeding you, at least."
