Kael
I hadn’t meant to end up out there.
That seemed to be happening more often lately.
I told myself I was just walking, just moving because standing still felt worse, because the walls inside the castle pressed in too close when I stayed too long. It was easier outside, where there was space enough to breathe without thinking about it.
The field stretched wide near the edge of the treeline, open enough that you could see movement from a distance but close enough to the forest that shadows lingered where they shouldn’t.
That’s what drew me there.
Or maybe it was them.
Nevara stood in the center of the field, laughing at something one of the boys had said, her voice carrying easily across the open space. Noah had some kind of bat in his hands, swinging too hard at something that cle
