Nevara
Six weeks after Blackstone met Shelly, I stopped checking the corridor before I carried my daughter out of our rooms.
The realization hit me halfway to the courtyard.
I had simply opened the door and walked.
No pause to listen for footsteps. No glance toward the guards. No question about whether the route had been changed or who knew where I was going.
The castle still had security. Kael would probably haunt the halls after death if anyone suggested otherwise. But the extra checkpoints were gone, staff had returned to normal routines, and nobody looked alarmed when I appeared with Shelly tucked against my chest.
Normal had crept back in so quietly that I had almost missed it.
Outside, spring had warmed the courtyard enough that Jonas and Noah had abandoned their jackets near
