For the first few minutes after the carriage departed, no one spoke.
The clatter of wheels over the estate road filled the silence, joined now and then by the rhythmic pounding of the horses and the muted jingle of harnesses outside. The movement of the carriage was far smoother than any ordinary wagon, yet there was still a faint swaying to it that reminded them they were truly leaving the estate behind.
Esther sat nearest the window, her hands folded over her lap at first as if she were trying to behave properly, but it did not take long before her excitement won over her manners. She leaned ever so slightly toward the glass, her eyes shining as she watched the familiar grounds of the Rubenhart Estate slowly begin to slip away.
She wasn't able to see them much when she first travelled there two years ago from their destroyed village, as she had cried too much, so much she had slept unconscious on Airam's lap during the whole trip, but now she could really see it.
