Kael left the Marquis's palace
The Marchioness lived. He had seen her chest rise and fall in steady rhythm, her face no longer marked with hollow wounds. The Witch had done what no physician could. The Marquis himself had bowed, and Leonard's stone-hard expression had finally cracked.
But Kael's thoughts were not on their gratitude. His mind lingered on the words the Witch had spoken in the forest.
Stop feeding the rats in the tunnels of your other house.
Kael walked alone through the streets of Mangort, unnoticed among the morning bustle. Merchants opened stalls. His feet carried him beyond the city gates, toward the road that led back into the Blackroot Forest.
The Witch was waiting. He knew it without being told.
