Page 141 of Iron Beneath the Snow

He did not avoid her.

He simply did not remain with her.

At some point, he looked at her directly.

The thread deepened at once.

His gaze held hers for a fraction longer than it had held anyone else’s.

Then he looked away.

No one else reacted.

No one else would have noticed.

Eira lowered her gaze to the table, her hand resting lightly against the edge of her plate.

It was not distance.

It was selection.

Not where he stood. Not how he spoke.

But where he allowed himself to remain.

She lifted her gaze once more.

For everyone else, nothing was out of place.

For her, the pattern had become impossible to dismiss.

Whatever had changed between them had not been undone.

He was simply holding it at a distance she had not yet learned how to cross.

Chapter 38: The Truth of the Circle

Eira

By the time Eira reached the lower gate, the courtyard was already in motion. Horses were being saddled in steady succession, leather drawn tight and checked, metal fastenings tested with habitual precision.

Soren stood near the outer line, speaking with two of the captains. Nothing in his posture suggested urgency, and yet the readiness around him made the decision clear.

He was leaving.

Not later. Now.

Eira slowed as she crossed the courtyard.

One of the captains inclined his head and moved away, the other following a moment later, leaving the space around Soren briefly unoccupied.

She stepped into it.

He turned toward her.

“You’re riding out.”

“Yes.”