Just then, the door opened again. Heiko stepped in, tall and imposing, the fire in his eyes still subdued but steady — the wolfsbane almost fully gone from his system.
He looked at River, then to Alia. “Are you ready to go?”
River nodded and moved to his side, her hand instinctively finding his. The warmth of his palm grounding her.
Alia looked between them and asked with curiosity, “So? Do you know where you’re headed? Which territory?”
River gave a helpless shrug. “No idea yet.”
Alia raised an eyebrow. “You’re not the least bit curious? What if you don’t like it?”
River glanced up at Heiko and smiled — a genuine, open-hearted smile. “It doesn’t really matter,” she said. “Heiko will be there.”
Alia stared at the girl before her. And for all her decades of wisdom, all her power and
