Chapter 19. The Mountain's Hunger

Mairead left before the moon had finished rising.

There were no guards posted, no escort offered, no wolf assigned to watch her departure. The camp slept, or pretended to, wrapped in the uneasy quiet that had settled since the western border fell silent.

But Seraya knew.

She felt it in the moment Mairead crossed the threshold beyond Hollowridge’s wards—a subtle ripple through the land, a tightening beneath her ribs that carried the unmistakable weight of farewell. It was not defiance that lingered in that absence. It was duty, sharp and unyielding as steel. Mairead had said nothing, but the look in her eyes the night before had been heavy with something older than fear, something shaped by long memory and longer obligation.

By dawn, she was gone.