The pine forest on the slopes of the Valmere pass was a cathedral of ice and shadow. We didn't stop until we were deep within a hollowed-out cedar grove, a place where the canopy was thick enough to mask the heat of a small, shielded lantern.
Cael leaned against the trunk of a tree, his chest heaving, his hand still white-knuckled around the hilt of his stolen blade. "That bridge... Armand, the Ministry is going to have a field day with that. You didn't just break a floor; you dropped a city landmark into the Sump."
"The landmark was rotting," I said, my voice flat. I sat on a flat stone, the Royal satchel resting heavily on my knees. "I just accelerated the inevitable. Physics is a harsh critic of poor maintenance."
