(Almera POV)
We returned to Atenisia three days after the oasis festival ended.
The journey back felt quieter than the one that had taken us away. No music followed us through the sand this time, no ceremonial banners snapping in the wind. Just the steady rhythm of hooves, the low murmur of guards, and the vast desert swallowing our trail behind us as if we had never passed through at all.
Yet the silence was not empty.
It was heavy with aftershocks.
The capital greeted us as it always did—sunlight spilling over white stone, the scent of salt from the sea carried on warm air, the city alive with merchants and voices—but something underneath had shifted. I could feel it the moment we crossed the outer gates. Conversations paused a heartbeat too long. Heads inclined just a fraction deeper. Eyes lingered, measuring.
