Chapter 1020
The watchers had not come close again during the night, but their presence was felt. Light drifted strangely over the orchard’s eastern edge, and the clouds that passed over the peak glowed with a faint shimmer. Jude had kept one eye on the mountain as the children slept between Grace and Sophie. Now, the sun filtered through the canopy with more weight than light, golden but sluggish. It was Lucy who noticed first. She stopped walking and pointed slightly to the right of the path, where the trees leaned close together in an arch. Jude turned to follow her gaze and saw a faint blue shimmer weaving through the leaves. The watchers were there, still distant, but visibly curious.
"We’re being followed," Serena whispered, eyes alert but calm.
Jude nodded. "They’re learning our rhythm."
He adjusted the ribbon at his wrist, a thin braid of green and silver Layla had made for him before sunrise. It symbolized clarity and protection, she’d said with a teasing grin before kissing his shoulder. He had kissed her back, long and slow, until the morning chill warmed between them.
They approached the willow bend, and Jude stepped ahead to place the carved seed figure at the root. The tree loomed, twisted and massive, its bark etched with old watcher glyphs, ones they hadn’t deciphered yet. Jude bent low, pressed the figure against the earth, and whispered, "For you, who watched us through the storms. For you, who kept silence even when wind howled."
Behind him, Lucy set a flower beside the seed. Serena lit a small clay incense dish, letting it smolder on a stone.
The moment held. Mist gathered, swirled, pulled inward. A shape moved in the fog, not threatening, not quite solid either. It bowed, subtly, like a nod between old acquaintances, then vanished.
Serena exhaled slowly. "That was new."
Jude felt a weight lift from his chest. "It was acknowledgment."