12/16/2025, 10:28 PM
![[Image: de30rbh-3b0683a6-441b-43e3-821f-97de2c91...kDaKDynxTk]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/9de0281f-9de0-407a-a8c3-cff68eced06b/de30rbh-3b0683a6-441b-43e3-821f-97de2c917037.gif?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi85ZGUwMjgxZi05ZGUwLTQwN2EtYThjMy1jZmY2OGVjZWQwNmIvZGUzMHJiaC0zYjA2ODNhNi00NDFiLTQzZTMtODIxZi05N2RlMmM5MTcwMzcuZ2lmIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.X3AR7ztue9yyAPqjXnKt7hzjl9ocfI1zPkDaKDynxTk)
she came here for the quiet. for the sky, for the way the stars burned so clean and bright, untroubled by the mess of living things. for prayer, if she did not wish to climb mountains. she did not come for men, or memories, or conversations left unfinished. certainly not for a limping roman with a mind full of orders.
to suggest that the woman had frequented this place on account of him would be an egregious assumption. an influence? well. best not to ask such questions.
still, she is already there when he arrived, half-curled near the crest of the hill, dark pelt dusted with frost, gaze tilted heavenward as if she had been counting the dead. she did not startle at the sound of his approach; she had smelt him long before he cleared the rise.
only when the snow cracks beneath his feet does she turn her face to him.
roman,she greeted smoothly with the incline of his head.
