Morning in Merrow's Edge did not rise so much as seep in through the gray. Light came through the guesthouse window without warmth or color, and Kael rose from the pallet with the same unease as the dawn itself.
He dressed without thinking, following the rhythm of a life he couldn't remember. Each motion felt practiced but alien, like wearing someone else's clothes stitched from muscle memory.
Outside, the orchard's remnants stood in silence. He found a patch of dirt near the wall, knelt, and began drawing lines with his finger.
The shape from the dream was still fresh in his head.
A spiral, but broken in two places. Jagged points curled outward like thorns. In the dream, it had been branded in fire across the sky. Here, it was only dirt and trembling fingers.
"That symbol," a voice said behind him, quiet but unmistakable.
He didn't turn. "I saw it last night. In a dream."
Lira stepped up beside him, arms folded. She looked down at the drawing for a long time.
"Do you know what it means?" he asked.
"I've seen it before," she said. "Once. In a vault we weren't meant to open."
Kael looked at her. "A vault?"
"Memories sealed so deep even the Houses fear them. This one was cracked. That symbol was burned into the wall."
She crouched beside him.
"It's not a common dream. Not even here. You must have held something powerful to carry that mark."
"Then why would I forget it?"
"Maybe you chose to."
He watched her trace one corner of the spiral with her finger. Her expression unreadable.
"What do I call myself?" he asked. "I need something. Even if it's not real."
She didn't answer immediately.
Then she stood, brushing her hands against her skirts.
"You look like a Kael," she said.
He blinked. The name stirred something low in his chest, like embers shifting under ash.
"Is that my name?"
"No. But it's close enough to one you once wore."
She turned and walked back toward the square. He sat in the dirt a while longer, the name echoing in his thoughts, fitting over him like a coat that was too familiar to be new.
Kael.
It wasn't his. But it would do.