A few more days passed. Quiet, drifting days—though nothing ever stayed truly quiet for long.
Just a few more weeks remained before the end of Emberreach. Three more months until Heinz turned twenty-two.
Which also meant… three more months until Florian's supposed death by execution—and Heinz's death, too.
It was a grim countdown, a shadow hanging above them. Something Florian couldn't help but mentally cross off day by day, even though—hopefully—they'd already managed to change that outcome.
'I'm still breathing. So is Heinz. That has to count for something...right?' Florian would think, sometimes staring up at the ornate ceiling of his chambers long after everyone else had gone.
But peace didn't bring certainty.
