"Where will we stop tonight?" Bae asked after a moment.

"There's an inn less than five hours from here," Armel said softly into her ear.

The word inn hit Bae, filling her with dread but she refused to let the emotion settle.

"Are they expecting us?"

"A handful of protectors set off before us to warn them ahead of our arrival," Kael broke his silence.

Bae met his eye, smiling sadly at him before saying, "very good. Thank you, Kael."

He bowed his head ...