The morning sun warmed the rolling fields as Vartha trotted steadily along the dirt road, her pace smooth enough that Luke could comfortably sit with the map stretched across his lap. Ilyrana leaned in beside him on the carriage bench, her shoulder lightly pressing against his — not intentionally, not consciously, but naturally, as if the space between them simply didn't exist anymore.
"Alright… Barcken is down here," Luke muttered, tapping the lower edge of the parchment. "And Nateron is somewhere around here—east, but slightly north."
He traced the route with his finger, following the thin line of road that curved through hills, skirted a sparse woodland, and continued onward across a mild elevation.
Ilyrana studied the map with the same attentiveness she usually reserved for planning ambushes or navigating forests.
"It doesn't seem difficult," she murmured. "No mountains… no ravines… only gentle terrain."
