The settlement on the southwestern edge of Sun Harvest's territory was called Stenfell.
Elara had visited it three times before. Once for the inquiry, once to deliver a mediation notice, and once on a day when she had told Alistair she needed to walk somewhere, and wasn't sure where. He had not asked why.
She came back that afternoon slightly less tight in the shoulders than she had been that morning, and Alistair counted the day as a success without knowing what had happened in it.
The fourth visit was different.
Alistair walked with her most of the way. Not because she had asked, but because the morning had been quiet, and he had felt the pull of a man who wanted to see a place he hadn't yet seen through the eyes of the person who had already seen it three times.
He didn't say this. He just fell in beside her on the path, and she didn't comment on it, and they walked together without speaking for the first half hour.
Eventually, Elara broke the silence.
