Chapter 162

CHAPTER 6… VALENTINA Hours had passed, the light had thinned to a pale shimmer, filtering through the veil of fog that clung to the Hollow Vale. The convoy moved in near silence now — no one dared speak above a whisper. Even the horses seemed uneasy, their hooves sinking into damp earth that pulsed faintly beneath them, as if the ground itself breathed. Luciano stirred against me. His little hand brushed my arm, tracing shapes he couldn’t name. “Mama,” he murmured, his voice low, yet clear, “the door is dreaming.” I froze, blinking. “What did you say, my love?” He blinked slowly, his eyes unfocused — moonlit and shadowed all at once. “It’s dreaming, but not sleeping. It wants to wake up.” Andres reined his horse beside us, his jaw tightened, his golden eyes scanning the trees, alert. He didn’t interrupt, didn’t tell our son to hush — just listened, the warrior lord in him already reading the omen beneath the child’s words. When I met his gaze, the fear I saw mirrored my own. Although h