Chapter 28 - Shadows of the Gate

A festival morning, cold river water on your hands, and a whole day's small resentments—right up until the moment the ordinary stops being safe.

This is the chapter where a mother counts her children with her eyes and refuses to let her voice shake. It asks what a person owes the neighbors who never quite trusted them, and whether a secret carried for fifteen years is a debt that can ever be paid. The dread here is quiet, domestic, and relentless: the fear of not being enough, and the colder fear of being turned away when you offer.

—

Narrated by Rebecca Hasler.

Set in D.W. Sheppard’s vast interconnected world where protective Gates hold back deadly monsters and treacherous flora, where safety is never guaranteed.

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