Lucien Draven:
I never thought I'd see the day when Ronan and I would walk side by side, heading into a village before the sun was fully up. Yet here we were, trudging along the worn dirt path under the faint glow of a dawn sky, the horizon tinted with pale grays and the softest hint of gold.
He wasn't happy about it. That much was obvious. His shoulders were tense, his jaw set, every line of his body screaming that he'd rather be anywhere else. But Elara needed supplies, and the baby—our baby—would be here before we knew it. So, we had to do this.
For her. For them.
We traveled in silence for the first half-hour, the only sounds being the quiet shuffle of our feet and the distant rustle of leaves in the morning breeze. The night still lingered, a soft darkness clinging to the edges of the sky, but I could sense the sun creeping closer, a slow warmth inching along the horizon.
