{Elias's POV, first person. 1 hr earlier}
For the past minute I have been sitting behind the heavy oak desk in my office, attempting to force my attention onto a mountain of reports that might as well have been written in another language. My eyes moved across line after line of neat handwriting, but none of the words truly registered; every road my thoughts traveled eventually led back to the same destination.
No matter how many times I redirected my focus, I found myself wondering what Seraphina was doing, whether she had managed to rest, whether her arm was healing properly, or whether she was carrying more burdens than she allowed anyone to see.
