The sun had set.
The sky was dark, the stars were coming out, the torches along the walls were being lit one by one. The courtyard was quiet—the servants had gone, the soldiers were at their posts, the peacocks had been put away for the night. It was just them.
Grog sat on the edge of the fountain, his back to the water, his eyes on the gate. His arm was bandaged, his side was wrapped, his shoulder was a mass of pain that had become familiar enough to ignore. But he was here. They were all here.
Lira sat beside him, her bow across her knees, her quiver at her hip. She had been quiet all evening, watching, thinking, the way she did before something important. Her hands were steady, her eyes were clear, her face was calm.
Aldric was in a chair nearby, his leg propped on a stool, his cane beside him. He had been in the yard all afternoon, pushing himself, testing himself, refusing to rest. Now he was tired, his face pale, his hands still. But he was here.
Mirena stood apart from them, near the wall, her staff in her hand, her eyes on the stars. She had been practicing all day—shields, wards, the sword Grog had given her. Her arm was bandaged, her hands were raw, her face was set. But she was here.
William was at the edge of the courtyard, his back to them, his hands on the stone wall. He was looking at the gate, at the road beyond, at the hills that waited. He had been quiet since the spar, since the dispatches, since the King's command. But he was here.
---
The Duke came first.
He walked across the courtyard alone, his steps slow, his hands clasped behind his back. He stopped beside Grog, looked at the gate, the road, the darkness beyond.
"You're leaving tomorrow."
Grog nodded. "We are."
The Duke was quiet for a moment. "I've been thinking about what to say. Words that would matter. Words that would make a difference." He shook his head. "There aren't any."
Grog looked at him. "You don't have to say anything."
The Duke met his eyes. "I know." He was quiet for a moment. "Bring them back."
Grog didn't answer. He couldn't promise. He wouldn't lie.
The Duke nodded slowly. "I understand."
He walked away.
---
Edward came next.
He stood apart from the others, his arms crossed, his face unreadable. He looked at his brother, at the sword at his hip, at the hands that had held it against the beast.
"You're really going."
William turned. "I am."
Edward was quiet for a moment. "Father wrote to me. After the King's command. He said—" He stopped.
William waited.
"He said he was proud of you." Edward's voice was flat. "He said he always knew you would find something worth becoming."
William stared at him. "He said that?"
Edward nodded. "He did."
William looked at his hands. The hands that had held the sword against the beast. The hands that had kept Aldric alive. "I didn't know."
Edward moved to stand beside him. "Neither did I." He looked at the gate, the road, the darkness beyond. "Come back."
William met his eyes. "I will."
---
Commander Vance watched from the shadows.
He didn't approach. Didn't speak. He just stood there, his arms crossed, his face carved from stone, his eyes on the company. He had been watching them for weeks—training, healing, preparing. He had seen them fall and get up and fall again.
He didn't know if they were ready.
He didn't think anyone was.
---
Lira broke the silence.
"I have a story," she said.
They looked at her.
"My first patrol," she said. "I was seventeen. New to the border. Thought I knew everything." She almost smiled. "I didn't."
Grog watched her.
"We were tracking a group of Vargr—scouts, probably, looking for weaknesses. My sergeant put me at the rear. Told me to watch our backs." She shook her head. "I fell asleep."
Aldric stared at her. "You fell asleep?"
"I was seventeen." She shrugged. "I'd been up all night. Couldn't help it."
William leaned forward. "What happened?"
Lira's almost smile became real. "The Vargr circled around us. Came up from behind. I woke up with a knife at my throat and a very angry sergeant yelling at me."
Silence.
"We survived," she said. "Barely. But I never fell asleep on patrol again." She looked at them. "That's the story. That's what I learned. You make a mistake, you learn from it. You don't make it again."
Aldric stared at her. "That's your inspiring story? The one you tell before we leave?"
She met his eyes. "It's the only one I have."
He was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed.
It was a small sound, rough, surprised. But it was real. The first time he had laughed since the beast.
Lira looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head. "I just—" He stopped. "I didn't think you'd ever made a mistake."
She stared at him. "I've made plenty."
"Name one."
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
William grinned. "She can't."
"Shut up," Lira said. But she was almost smiling too.
---
Mirena moved from the wall. Sat on the edge of the fountain beside Grog.
"I've been thinking," she said.
Grog looked at her.
"About the rings. About the things we found. About the things we didn't find." She looked at the stars. "Kevin's order—they hid those things for a reason. They thought someone would need them. Someday."
Grog nodded.
"We're that someone." She met his eyes. "We're the ones they were waiting for."
He was quiet for a moment. "Do you believe that?"
She looked at the staff in her hands. The staff that could shrink to the size of her palm. The staff that had become part of her.
"I have to," she said.
---
William walked to Grog.
He stood in front of him, his hands at his sides, his back straight, his eyes steady.
"I wanted to thank you," he said. "For letting me come. For training me. For—" He stopped.
Grog waited.
"For treating me like a soldier. Not a prince." William's voice was quiet. "I've never been treated like a soldier before."
Grog was quiet for a moment. "You're not a soldier. Not yet."
William nodded. "I know."
"But you will be."
William met his eyes. "I will."
Grog looked at him. "Save your thanks for when we come back."
William almost smiled. "I will."
---
They sat in silence as the night deepened.
The stars were bright, the courtyard quiet, the world still. Tomorrow they would leave. Tomorrow they would ride into the hills, back to the place where the beast had come from, back to the things that were waiting.
Grog looked at them. Lira, her bow across her knees, her eyes on the gate. Aldric, his leg propped, his face pale, his hands steady. Mirena, her staff in her hand, her eyes on the stars. William, his back straight, his hands steady, his face set.
They were not ready. None of them were ready.
But they were here. Together.
That was enough.
---
A figure appeared at the gate.
Grog saw her first—a silhouette against the torches, moving slowly, deliberately. She was wearing traveling clothes, a sword at her hip, her hair pulled back. She walked into the courtyard, stopped in front of them, looked at each face in turn.
Gwen.
The Duke's niece. The woman who had talked to Aldric at the feast, who had laughed at his awkwardness, who had told him she was supposed to be charming him.
She met Aldric's eyes.
"I'm coming with you."
Aldric stared at her. "What?"
"I said—"
"I heard what you said." He sat up, his leg protesting, his cane forgotten. "You can't. We're going into the hills. We're going to find things that will try to kill us. You're not—"
"I'm not what?" Her voice was calm. "Not a soldier? Not trained? Not ready?"
He was quiet.
"I've been training," she said. "For weeks. With the same battle-mages who taught Mirena. With the same weapons you've been using." She touched the sword at her hip. "I'm not a scholar. I'm not a researcher. I'm not going to sit in this palace and wait while you go out there alone."
Aldric looked at Grog. Grog looked at the Duke's niece.
"She's been asking me for weeks," the Duke said from the shadows. "I told her no. She kept asking."
William grinned. "She's stubborn."
Edward stared at his cousin. "You can't be serious."
Gwen met his eyes. "I've never been more serious."
---
The Duke walked to stand beside her.
"She's family," he said. "I don't want her to go. I've told her that." He looked at Grog. "But she's also an adult. She can make her own choices."
Grog looked at Gwen. At the sword at her hip. At the set of her shoulders. At the steadiness in her eyes.
"You've trained?"
She nodded. "Every day. For weeks."
"You've fought?"
"No." She didn't flinch. "But I've watched. I've learned. I won't be a burden."
Grog was quiet for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Pack your things. We leave at dawn."
Gwen nodded. She turned, walked back toward the palace, her steps steady, her back straight.
Aldric stared after her. "Did you know about this?"
Grog shook his head. "No."
William was still grinning. "I like her."
Edward said nothing. He was watching his cousin disappear into the palace, his face unreadable.
---
The night deepened.
The stars were bright, the courtyard quiet, the world still. Tomorrow they would leave. Tomorrow they would ride into the hills.
Grog looked at the gate. At the road beyond. At the darkness that waited.
He thought about the old timeline. About the people he had lost. About the things he had failed to save.
This was different. Everything was different.
He stayed in the courtyard until the moon set.