There’s an ease, riding alongside him that’s relaxing, Cassandra finds. She’s comfortable. (To a degree that she’s not sure she’s felt even remotely close to since... well, since James. Which catches her by surprise.)

She smirks a little at him. “As often as I can. Which isn’t nearly as often as I’d like. At least not until I found myself here.” Whitestone had been a cage, and while Rome had held its own freedoms, of a sort, there had still been little ability to roam truly freely. And the City had been a cage of another sort entirely. (Although it had allowed her to travel to other planets. Which was thrilling in and of itself.)

Here, though? There’s an entire world beyond Gazin to be explored, unknown to her. It’s... a little bit like seeing the sky for the first time after years of captivity.