Inside the border village, people watched from behind glass: not curious, but accounting the odds of who would leave in the morning. Mira peeled off to find supplies. Soren steered the Lady to the inn, single story, heat from the roof promising at least one working stove. He checked the windows, the exits, the bottleneck at the corridor. The Lady said nothing, just found the chair with its back to the wall and took it.
He sat across, hands flat on the table.
She looked at them, then at him. "You don't like being a bodyguard."
He grinned, the real one. "I like it more than the alternative."
She almost smiled. "What's the alternative?"
He shrugged. "Not being here at all."
She traced a finger along the rim of the cup, voice low. "You know why they want to stop me, Vale?"
He hesitated. "Because you're important."
She laughed, once. "No one's important. They just want to see if Meridian can be embarrassed. Or if it lives up to its stories."
