I woke without knowing when sleep had taken me.
Daybreak had arrived with confidence, announced by layered birdsong—calls overlapping, answering one another like a conversation I wasn't meant to understand. The air was cool, damp with dew, carrying that sharp green scent only forests seem to possess.
I turned my head.
Victoria was still asleep beside me. Her brows were drawn tight, lips parted just enough to betray unrest. Whatever dreams held her were not kind. I stayed still, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest, then carefully slipped free of the blanket.
Outside the tent, the forest revealed itself.
Tall. Massive. Greens stacked upon greens. Trunks rose like pillars uninterested in roofs, some stretching so high their crowns vanished into pale morning mist.
"Wow," I breathed.
"It seems you slept well."
The voice was calm, measured—as if it had always been there.
I turned. Mr. Mnemon stood a few steps away, a tray balanced effortlessly in his hands. Steam curled faintly from one of the covered dishes.
"Yes—yes, I did," I said. "Good morning."
My gaze drifted instinctively toward Miss Li Hua's tent.
"I'm afraid the mistress is still resting," Mnemon said smoothly, following my line of sight without turning his head. "She may not rise for some time."
"Oh," I said, suddenly unsure what one did when authority slept.
"How about breakfast?" he offered, kind but not indulgent.
"If that's alright," I replied, still staring at the trees. Somewhere beyond them, water murmured—steady, patient.
"But first," Mnemon added, "we wash."
Before I could question it, he placed a wooden bucket of cool water in my hands—and a toothbrush.
"Where did you—" I began, then stopped. Some questions, I was learning, were ornamental.
The water shocked me properly awake. By the time I returned, Victoria was sitting up, already eating.
"How are the two soldiers?" she asked, careful but steady.
"They are well enough," Mnemon replied, pouring her a drink. "They've been fed."
"Morning, Heiwa," Victoria said, glancing at me. "Did you sleep at all?"
"Hmm."
"The forest looks different in the sunlight," she said, biting into a sausage. "Less… threatening."
"Would you like some?" Mnemon asked, handing me a cup. "Coffee."
I blinked. "When did we have coffee?"
He answered by offering milk and sugar with impeccable timing.
I stirred, then sipped.
It was good. Annoyingly good. Bread, butter, fruit—far too much for a night camp. I chose not to examine the logistics.
"So," Victoria said, rolling a small ball between her palms, "it'll take the whole day to reach the alchemist?"
"That's what Miss Li Hua said."
"And the soldiers?" I asked quietly.
Victoria stiffened—barely.
"When we return," Mnemon said evenly, "they will be handed over to the proper authorities. Draken will be notified."
That settled it. For now.
Questions stacked themselves neatly in my mind and waited.
"I wonder what kind of person chooses to live this far out," I murmured.
Victoria didn't answer. She kept turning the little ball, eyes unfocused—somewhere between here and yesterday.
"Oh—look," she said suddenly, crouching. "A pine."
"That is a fir," Mnemon corrected gently.
"Oh." She smiled. "Thank you."
The morning continued, unbothered.
Dew. Dirt. Green. Quiet competence.
Everything reduced to a nutshell—small enough to hold, heavy enough to matter.
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