Chapter 46: The First Snow
The first snow did not fall so much as settle, a silent, white exhale from a leaden sky that transformed their world between dawn and breakfast.
Lyra, peering through the thick glass of the window, saw the familiar rocks, the path, the stubborn herbs, all erased under a flawless blanket. Her breath fogged the pane. She did not see a landscape muted, she saw a fresh, unmarked tactical map.
Kaelen observed her observation. And said, "First snow," he announced, as if issuing a field report. "Changes everything. Conceals. Quiets. Also," he added, pragmatically, "makes firewood retrieval a higher-priority mission."
Elara, now moving with the deliberate, swaying grace of advanced pregnancy, taking a step at a time before she joined them. She placed a hand on the small of her back, her other hand coming to rest on Lyra's head. "It's looking so beautiful," she sighed. I believe, "The world is resting."
