They left before the light was fully there.
Dav had done exactly what he said five water skins stored near the east gate, filled and ready, leaning against the post without ceremony. No goodbye, no appearance. Just the water skins, because some things did not need to be made into an event.
Aelara picked them up and distributed them and the group moved through the gate and onto the east path while the sky was still the dark purple-grey of the hour before dawn, and she did not look back at the farm, because looking back when you had finally turned around was a habit she was trying to break.
Caelum was at the front.
This was new. For months he had walked behind or beside, the protective position he had always naturally taken. This morning he had moved to the front without anyone suggesting it and without announcing it, and the movement had a specific quality not impatience, not asserting something.
