Chapter 41 - Snapping Shut

Aleksasha crouched low in the underbrush, her pulse steady despite the tension coiling in her muscles. The old road stretched ahead, moonlight pooling in patches between the heavy branches. Her trap was set. Whoever had been intercepting her letters would come this way soon enough. Her gloved fingers flexed against the hilt of her sword, the weight familiar. It had been years since her father first placed a training blade in her hands, correcting her stance with quiet patience. He had believed knowledge and steel should walk hand in hand. His murder had only hardened that lesson.