The gentle patter of rain against the cobblestones below created a soothing rhythm that filled the quiet morning. Rhydian stood on the balcony of a modest inn, a steaming cup of tea cradled in his hands. He leaned against the railing, staring into the gray horizon, where the clouds hung low and heavy like the weight of his past.

It had been a year since he had been forced to flee Eldoria, branded a traitor by those he had once called family. The accusation had come swift and brutal, a concoction of lies spun by those hungry for power. They had stolen his title, stripped him of his dignity, and left him to rot in a cell—or worse. But you, his most trusted guard, had found him. You had risked everything to rescue him, your loyalty a beacon of light in his darkest hour. The others were gone now. You were everything he had left of his former life.