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Pri and Ata’s laughter echoed off the stone walls and the sound of it—the joy in it—made my heart swell. I hadn’t heard it for so long, from either of them, and I missed it. I couldn’t help but smile, even as a bittersweet pang tugged at my chest. How long had it been since we’d been able to let our guard down, tosimply revel in each other’s company without the weight of the world bearing down on us?

But even as we drank and laughed, a cold knot of fear sat in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this moment of happiness was fleeting, that it might be one of our last.

I studied Pri and Ata’s faces in the amber firelight, trying to memorize every detail—the curve of Pri’s smile, the mischievous sparkle in Ata’s eyes as she dealt the hand of cards. I wanted to freeze this moment in time, to live in it forever. Because deep down, I knew that once we stepped outside this room, once we left Locdragoon in the morning, everything would change.

They had become such an integral part of me, as vital as the air in my lungs or the blood in my veins and the thought of losing them—

I shook my head, forcing myself to take a deep breath and push those thoughts aside and focus on the present. For now, we were together. For now, we could pretend that the world outside didn’t exist.

I picked up my cards, flashing a grin at Ata.

The hours passed as we played hand after hand, laughing, crying, and talking about all the things we had missed in each other’s lives over these last months that we’d pulled away from each other.

Ata’s nose scrunched, her cheeks rosy from the ale as her brows furrowed.

“Does anyone else hear music?” she asked, turning toward the door.

Pri and I quieted to listen as a soft melody flowed through the cracks of the doorway. I stood, cracking open the door as the song grew louder and the corners of my lips tilted upward.

The music rang through the dark corridors and I stepped from the room, following the sound of each note as Ata and Pritrailed behind me. Stopping just outside the ballroom doors, I peaked my head through the small opening between them to see Landers pouring over a piano.

His fingers danced across the keys, each stroke precise and deliberate. The haunting melody filled the cavernous space, echoing off the high ceilings and ornate walls. I stood transfixed, unable to look away as Landers lost himself in the music.

He was beautiful like this.

The notes swelled and crescendoed as a shiver spilled down my spine. There was something melancholy and enchanting about the tune, as if it held secrets from a long-forgotten past.

I realized it then, as the familiar chords rang through the room.

He was playing the song of Nimbria.

Landers lifted his head, his gaze meeting mine through the crack in the doors as a soft smile swept over his mouth. I pushed the doors open and stepped inside, Ata and Pri following close behind as Landers continued playing. The ballroom was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the moonlight streaming through the tall windows.

As I approached the piano I wasn’t sure what came over me, if it was the drink in my system or the emotion the song had awoken, but the words came spilling from my lips before I could stop them, intertwining with every note Landers played.

I sat beside him, our shoulders brushing as Pri leaned against the piano and began to sing with me, her voice blending seamlessly with mine. My eyes tore from Landers’s hands to her, smiling softly as the corners of her eyes glistened. Ata slowly backed toward the windows, resting on its ledge and leaning her head back against the glass as she listened.

The doors creaked open and I glanced up to see Andrues and Wren slipping inside, smiles strewn across their faces. Andruessauntered over to Ata and I watched as he sat beside her, pulling her body closer to his in such an intimate, loving way.

Wren’s lips pressed against Pri’s temple, his arms wrapping around her as they began to slowly sway back and forth to the hum of the music. My eyes fell closed, letting the sound consume me as tears began to stream down my cheeks.

It was as if the very essence of Nimbria had come alive in this room, its spirit given voice through every note played, every word sung.

It was the song of our home.

The home that we were fighting so desperately to keep whole.

Nothing else existed but the melody and the six of us.

Only six of us were left, and I knew in my bones that before this was over—more despair would fall on our doorstep.

As suddenly as it had begun, the song came to a close, the final notes lingering in the air like a prayer. Silence fell over the ballroom, broken only by the soft sound of our collective breathing. I looked around at the faces of my family, seeing in their eyes the same emotions that swirled in mine. In that same moment, I felt a whisper flow down the fastening, not words but warmth—love.

My heart swelled against my chest.

This. These people—they were my home.

Dukovichsaunteredintothecastle courtyard, whistling into the snowy morning as he tossed an apple into the air. I groaned at the sound as I lifted my coffee to my lips.