"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
***
The morning air smelled like dew and dying leaves.
I stood in the main courtyard of the Leone estate with my travel bag slumped over one shoulder. The leather straps dug into my collarbone. A minor discomfort, but I welcomed it. Physical sensations were grounding. A reminder that this body, this world, this absurd second life were all terrifyingly real.
Somewhere overhead, a crow cawed. Harsh and grating. I watched it launch itself from the manor's western eave and disappear into the grey morning sky.
Even the birds knew when it was time to leave this place.
Lord Aldric's steel-grey eyes swept over me once. A cursory examination that somehow managed to feel both withering and dismissive at the same time. He cataloged my rumpled clothes, my hunched shoulders, my nervous posture.
The complete picture of a son who had never quite measured up.
