The next morning, after a peaceful soak in the hot springs with a man that I would fully admit that I was starting to love… even if I didn't know exactly what that word met, I left the Crown Prince's manor before the sun rose.
No note. No servant. No guard. Not even Yaozu noticed me slipping away.
Shadow, on the other hand, followed without hesitation, his paws silent as snowfall. He didn't ask where we were going, he really didn't care. He just stayed at my side, a hulking black streak against the frost-bitten coble stones of the Capital City.
I didn't take a horse.
Didn't wear proper boots.
I just needed to leave, I needed the cold, I needed to be grounded. Even the bite of stone beneath the soles of my feet soothed something that seemed to have been broken inside of me without me noticing.
It wasn't escape. I wasn't trying to run away from my marriage, from the man who made me feel seen. I wasn't trying to escape the war that started because of me.
