The night finally passed in peace. After making sure Alicia and Stacia had drunk the healing potions, Sylvia lay down beside them. She allowed her body to rest against the soft bed, savoring the rare stillness in her life. The sound of her sisters' steady breathing felt like a quiet lullaby, lulling her mind into slumber. For once, Sylvia let herself sleep without keeping watch, trusting that they were safe enough behind the inn's walls.
By morning, the world stirred again.
Sylvia woke not to alarms or attacks, but to the bustle of the small town filtering through wooden walls. Merchants shouting as they opened their stalls, the creak of wagon wheels on cobblestone, and the distant crowing of roosters all mingled into an unfamiliar but soothing morning rhythm.
