Azura's POV
We left Cenigue before the sun had fully risen. The village was still quiet when we pulled out. The streets were empty except for a few early risers who watched us go without saying a single word.
Their eyes were wide and curious, but nobody waved. The horses moved at a steady pace, their hooves loud on the stone road before the ground turned to packed dirt. Within an hour, the village had disappeared completely behind a thick wall of trees.
That was hours ago.
Now the sun was sitting high and heavy in the sky. It was pushing past midday, and the world outside the carriage window looked nothing like anything I had seen before.
The trees here were massive, ancient things. Their trunks were wider than houses, and their branches were tangled so far overhead that the light barely made it through the leaves. What little sunlight did reach us came in thin, pale strips that moved slowly across the floor of the carriage as we rolled forward.
