Chapter 1028

Mist curled through the orchard in pale tendrils the next dawn, as if still savoring the night's revelations. Jude awoke to its hush, the air heavy with quiet electricity. The watchers lingered, pulsating soft light around the ring of stones and watchersilk wraps that marked the ritual circle. The wives and children lay still, wrapped in blankets of woven vines, faces bathed in dawn glow. Jude stepped through the dew, each footfall deliberate, and knelt before the ring. Laurel stood in its center, hair luminous, eyes closed. He laid his hands on the cool stones, willing memory to flow. A watcher hovered just beyond the circle; its light held steady, patient.