Caleb's POV

The courtyard was unusually quiet for dawn.

Normally, by this hour, the training grounds would already be alive with the clash of steel and the shouts of warriors. Servants would be bustling about, preparing for the day. But today, everyone had been asked to stay inside, to give this moment the privacy it deserved.

I stood near the gate, watching as Marcus secured the last of their belongings to the horse-drawn wagon. It wasn't much, just a few trunks of clothes, supplies for the ...