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Princess Mia stood at rigid attention. Polished garnet armour hugged her slim frame; gem-lined pauldrons caught last light in blood-red sparks. To either side, healers in white bark robes waited with stretchers, and heralds clutched long silver horns that had greeted countless heroes.
Mia's breath hitched each time dust silhouettes emerged from the crowds. She ticked off units by memory: First Dawn-Blade Cohort, intact but limping; Supply Auxiliaries, Vanguard Spear flaunting fresh enemy standards… yet no crooked, spear-lean figure that matched Kai.
A ragged line of workers trudged past, their eyes sunken, harness ropes carving bloody tracks across shoulders. Mia's heart lurched. "He would never march ahead; he'd stay rear-guard, watching for stragglers." She scanned the tail of the convoy, still nothing.
