Chapter 42. Beneath the Garden

They waited until midday before turning back west.

Aria knew the risk in returning toward the keep, even partially. But Kaid’s signal had been unmistakable, and she trusted the ink of his hand more than his voice. He never wrote without purpose. And if he’d risked leaving a glyph that could be seen—by her, or by others—it meant the secret beneath the garden had grown dangerous in silence.

The path they took wound through the northern crest of the valley, past stone-hung trees and crumbled watchposts swallowed by vine and snow. Nairon moved with effort, but he moved. The pace kept him upright. Kept him present. And maybe, Aria thought, it kept him from asking the question she wasn’t ready to answer: Why had Kaid waited this long?

By dusk, the keep’s highest towers appeared between the frost trees.

They didn’t approach from the main road.

Instead, Aria led them through a ruined aqueduct path Kaid had once shown her in secret, back when trust had been some