Kael took the job because she needed the coin, but she read the contract three times before signing. The fugitive's name sat like a stone in her throat. She knew that signature. She knew the careful slant of those letters because she'd watched them form across maps and supply lists for months. The parchment lay flat on the table, the embossed coin gleaming in the lamplight. The symbol meant desertion. It meant someone had walked away from their post without permission. Kael traced the coin's edge with one finger and felt her chest go tight. The warrior had reasons for everything she did. If she'd vanished, it wasn't cowardice. Kael folded the contract, tucked it inside her coat, and made a choice. She would find her. Not to turn her in, but to understand why she'd run. Maybe this was how she could finally show up when it mattered most. The trail led north through Ravens Hollow, past the old graveyard where moss grew thick on forgotten stones. Kael almost walked past it. Then she saw the fresh flowers. Yellow blooms against gray granite, placed with care. The name carved into the stone made her stop breathing. She read it twice, then looked at the dates. The warrior's lover had died two years ago. Two years, and the warrior still came here to leave flowers. Kael crouched beside the grave and understood. The warrior hadn't stopped believing in love because it wasn't real. She'd stopped because it had been real once, and losing it had broken something she couldn't fix. Kael stood and kept walking, but now she carried more than a contract. She carried the weight of knowing what she was asking someone to risk. The cabin sat in a clearing just before dusk. Smoke curled from the chimney. Kael's hand went to the contract in her coat, then dropped. She walked to the door and knocked twice. The warrior opened it, and her face went still when she saw who stood there. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Kael pulled the contract from her coat and held it out. The warrior looked at the parchment, at the coin pressed into the wax seal, then back at Kael's face. Kael said nothing. She just waited. The warrior took the contract, walked to the fireplace, and threw it in. The flames caught and ate the paper to ash. When she turned back, something in her expression had shifted. She stepped aside and let Kael in.