Seren kept her hood up as she slipped the tavern, though she knew she didn’t really need to. Lorthraine wasn’t Velsorin—this was her home, or at least the closest thing to it. Here, her face wouldn’t be plastered on notice boards or whispered about by every stranger she passed.

But habits formed on the road die hard, and after days of dodging watchmen and sleeping with one eye open, it was easier to let the shadows swallow her as she moved between the tables. Better not to take chances, even in familiar territory.

The tavern was dimly lit, a haze of smoke and the warm scent of spiced ale hanging in the air. It was early evening, the hour when Lorthraine’s capital, still clutching the remnants of its daylight bustle, turned its face to the dusk.

She spotted Kael first, a familiar slouch draped over a corner table, his dark robes nearly blending with the wood-paneled walls. A faint smirk tugged at the edge of her mouth. It seemed he had never outgrown that phase he’d entered at fourteen, when he’d declared that life was pain, and the rest of them were sheep for not understanding it.

Now, with an added flourish of age, he looked the part even more, like some tragic shadow conjured by candlelight.

Kael was muttering to himself, running one hand through his unruly hair, the other clenched around a half-empty glass. His words drifted through the tavern’s murmur, just loud enough to catch her ear: “She’s... she’s beyond me. Ellie Liddlell... I—how can I—unworthy... of even breathing... the same air…”

Seren rolled her eyes, drawing her hood back as she approached. But before she could reach Kael’s table, Mariel stepped into her path, shaking her head with a knowing smile.

“Don’t waste your breath, Seren. He’s been like that for some time. Ever since Ellie Liddlell—”

Mariel’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper as she nudged Seren toward the bar, out of Kael’s earshot. They perched on high stools, elbows resting on the sticky counter, and Mariel’s expression turned more serious. “I’d ask where you’ve been, but from the looks of you, it’s been somewhere you don’t want to talk about.”

Seren gave a tight-lipped smile. “Let’s just say I’ve seen enough of Velsorin to last a lifetime. But go on. What’s got Kael playing the part of a heartbroken ghost?”

Mariel blew a strand of hair from her face, her gaze slipping toward Kael’s corner, where he was now engaged in a passionate dialogue with his own reflection in the glass. “Ellie Liddlell happened, that’s what. She swept into the capital like some force of nature. First, she slain a dragon in one strike. Then she retrieves the lost relic of Lorthraine, right out of the old ruins like she was plucking an apple from a tree.”

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Seren blinked, trying to picture Ellie Liddlell—the shy girl from Greymire—suddenly blazing through the city like a heroine from a bard’s tale. “All that? Really?”

“Oh, it gets better,” Mariel continued, folding her arms with a kind of resigned admiration. “She exposed Achron as a devil in disguise. And if that wasn’t enough, she stopped the revival of the Devil King.”

Seren felt a laugh bubbling up in her chest, a dark and weary sound. She motioned to the barkeep for a drink, shaking her head as she let out a low whistle. “That’s... well, damn. And I thought my week was bad. No wonder Kael’s in pieces. He probably feels like a moth that got outshone by the sun.”

Mariel’s mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “It’s not just that. He thought he’d be the one to... you know, to rise to the occasion. All that dark brooding, those experiments in the shadows. Turns out, when the world needed saving, they didn’t call for him.”

Seren took a long pull of her drink, feeling the burn of cheap whiskey settle in her belly. She studied Kael across the room, his shoulders hunched under a weight only he seemed to feel, the kind of despair that came from a story playing out differently than he’d imagined it.

And yet, she couldn’t quite bring herself to pity him. She’d learned the hard way that life rarely offered you the role you thought you deserved.

“Well, maybe Ellie saved more than just the kingdom, then,” Seren said finally, her voice low. “Sounds like she might have saved him from himself, too.”

Mariel gave her a sidelong glance, a flicker of curiosity crossing her face. “That’s surprisingly optimistic, coming from you. You sure you haven’t been replaced by some kind-hearted doppelgänger out in Velsorin?”

Seren snorted, finishing the rest of her drink in one go. “Optimism or not, I’m just glad it wasn’t me fighting devils and saving relics. I’ve got enough on my plate trying to figure out how I’m going to stay out of Velsorin’s dungeons.”

Mariel’s smile softened, but her eyes sharpened, a quiet concern threading through her voice. “You’re not planning on staying here long, are you?”

Seren shook her head, setting the empty glass down with a dull clink. “No. I just needed a place to breathe for a night. But I think I’ve had my fill of breathing the same air as old friends.”

She slid off the stool, tossing a few coins onto the counter for her drink. Mariel watched her, the unspoken questions gathering like shadows between them, but she didn’t press. As Seren turned to go, she glanced back at Kael one last time—mumbling still, lost in his private storm—and she couldn’t help a small, wry smile.

“Tell Kael I said hello,” she murmured, pulling her hood up once more. “And that if he ever gets tired of feeling sorry for himself, he knows where to find me.”

Mariel chuckled softly, lifting her glass in a mock salute. “Good luck, Seren. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

Seren didn’t answer, just raised a hand in a half-wave as she slipped through the tavern’s door and out into the twilight. The air outside was cool, washing over her face like a second drink, clearer than anything she’d had inside.

She took a breath, letting the city’s familiar sounds wash over her—footsteps, the distant murmur of the market, a dog barking in some back alley.

And beyond that, the quiet whisper of the road, calling her back to it.