I don’t go home.
There’s no pause where someone asks where I want to sleep tonight. No quiet moment of negotiation. By the time the ceremony dissolves into low voices and controlled movement, the decision has already been made without me needing to say a word.
My things are already here.
That realization lands as I’m guided down a different corridor than the one I know best, past rooms I’ve only ever passed in daylight, past doors that used to feel closed to me in ways that had nothing to do with locks. The warriors peel away one by one until it’s just Landon and me, footsteps echoing softly against the polished floor.
The room waits at the end of the hall.
When the door opens, I stop short without meaning to.
It’s larger than I expected.
Not extravagant. Not ceremonial. Just… spaci
