I walked the hills for an hour before I made up my mind.
The mist was rolling in from the coast, softening the edges of the world until everything felt distant and unreal. I sat on a mossy stone and watched the fog swallow the valley below, turning the land into a sea of grey.
I thought about Mathias Shaw, and the slow, patient way he'd pulled me into his web. One job at a time. One coin at a time. Each step feeling like my own choice, until I looked back and realized the cage had been built around me without my noticing.
I thought about the emblem, and the burned house in Elwynn, and how something I'd picked up almost by accident had led me here, to a hidden manor in the hills, surrounded by people who moved like shadows and spoke in riddles.
I thought about the serving girl, and the way she'd looked at me in Southshore. Like she recognized something in me that I wasn't sure I saw in myself.
And I thought about Ravenholdt. About what they'd offered.
Not a leash. Not a trap. Just a door.
I got up, dusted off my coat, and walked back.
The older man was still in the study, reading by the fire. Seth was there too, seated in the corner with a cup of tea that had long gone cold.
They both looked up when I entered.
"I'm in," I said.
No dramatic speech. No conditions. Just the truth.
The older man put down his book and studied me for a long moment. Then he gave a slow, measured nod.
"Good."
Seth didn't smile. But something in his stance shifted. A relaxation, almost imperceptible, like he'd been holding a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"We start tomorrow," he said. "Try to keep up."
---
A few weeks later, I found myself back in Southshore on a quiet evening.
I wasn't there for anything specific, just a supply run, a chance to stretch my legs. The manor was starting to feel like home, but old habits die hard, and I still preferred the noise of a tavern to the silence of a library.
She was there. Of course she was.
We talked for a while. Nothing heavy. She asked where I'd been, and I gave her a version of the truth, vague enough to protect her, honest enough not to feel like a lie. She didn't push.
She told me about her father. Just a few words, dropped between sips of ale. About how he'd lived quietly in Elwynn for a time, in a house that no longer stood. How he'd spoken once of a place called Ravenholdt, years ago, in a way that made her think it mattered.
She didn't know the details. Maybe she never would.
But her eyes met mine when she said it, and I knew, she'd given me more than she realized. More than she'd ever intended.
I didn't tell her about the emblem. Not yet. But I think she understood anyway.
We parted ways as the inn grew busy. She had work to do. I had a long walk back to the manor.
No promises. No goodbyes. Just the quiet understanding that our paths would cross again when the time was right.
And for now, that was enough.
Last part