Chapter 212

By the time summer ripened the plains, Kaia reached a place that did not look broken.

It looked divided.

The settlement lay along a wide river that cut the land cleanly in two. On the eastern bank stood older stone structures, low and steady, smoke rising in slow spirals. On the western bank, newer wooden buildings climbed upward in sharper angles, banners snapping in the wind.

A single bridge connected them.

It was sturdy.

It was rarely crossed.

Kaia paused before stepping ...