Chapter 92: The Uninvited Guest
The peat-hardened wood from the bog joined the hearth-wall, a dark, smooth knot among the brighter stones. It held the quiet weight of deep earth and settled sorrow, a reminder that not all whispers were violent some were just unbearably lonely. Winter deepened its hold, and the cove settled into a rhythm that felt, for the first time in months, genuinely theirs. The knowledge of the Seal in its box and the memory of the court's glittering eyes receded, softened by the daily, grounding work of home.
