It was still dark when she woke; the first feeble rays of Britannia’s sun had not yet broken through night’s shroud.
She dressed quickly and quietly, yet her movements seemed to echo through the house now that it had been stripped of its carpets and wall hangings. Shivering, she wrapped her cloak around her and stepped through her front door for the last time.
Kai was waiting for her outside, his kit bag slung casually over his shoulder. They travelled in silence to Serpent’s Hold; no words were needed.
She was both grateful and relieved that he had chosen to remain at her side, and wondered who else might come to serve with her. Victor, the former Trinsic guard captain, had promised as much, though she had given him time to think on his decision. She did not ask that he abandon his life here to serve in Gorimdor, but he seemed disillusioned with Britannia, and preferred serving with the Kaldorians.
As for the rest, she didn’t know who would end up fighting alongside her in Kelos, and who would find posts elsewhere. Many, including the general, had already returned, as though they had sensed that the recall would be coming.
The ship was waiting for them at the docks; a sleek vessel designed for speed rather than comfort. Cal did not linger; her house was now in the possession of Gorn’s wife, Calantha, and those possessions she could not bring with her had been disposed of. There was nothing to keep her here. It was time to leave.
As the ship pulled away from shore, she looked not back at the land where she’d spent so many years; where she’d lived and loved and fought and bled, but forwards, at the horizon. A new day was dawning, and a new life was awaiting her in Gorimdor.
The End