"The bond between mates is not silenced by distance; it howls louder in absence, a fire that no cage or kingdom can contain."
The air of RoanRidge tasted different than the Northern Kingdom. Here it was softer, less sharp with steel and duty, and more threaded with pine, earth, and the hum of an ancient land that had always cradled me, even when I had tried to leave it behind. Bringing Taemin home, he wanted to carry a piece of myself I had been missing. She walked at my side, her chin lifted like the survivor she was, though I noticed the small flickers of her fingers brushing along the wooden walls of the manor as though reminding herself she was no longer in a cell. Every touch, every inhaled breath of freedom, was like a silent declaration, I am here. I am alive.
