Inside the carriage, Henry sat with Leier and Inacia as they traveled south from Hidden Stone City. It had been four hours since they left the mountain, their path following the White Merchant Road that connected all North like threads in a web.
The further they traveled, the warmer the air became. Though the change was subtle, it was impossible to miss. The thick, heavy snow that blanketed the land had thinned considerably. In some places, the white had melted away entirely, revealing patches of dark, frozen soil. The trees and plants were beginning to show faint hints of life, their branches no longer as lifeless as they were further north, not only a dull and gray