ree generations of Ashbourne rule, and Kian brought Wren down there himself, past m

ising in the thin light. "Said history was easier to bear if fewer hands stirred it up. I always

ements, grain shortages, letters exchanged with allied packs during the worst of the border tension. Wren's hands shook every time she turned a

ng planting, three lines that had clearly been added later, in a different hand,

ance vote. Says half measures invite half loyalties. I do not lik

times before she tr

ia

strides, read it over her s

id quietly. "

d, pointing to the shift in the ink, the different pressu

ounding pages with new urgency. "Look. Half a page is missing here, torn cleanly at the binding. Whatever else my father wrote

ther's d

ied the weight of that decision to his grave without ever admitting the full truth, even to me, or someone tampe

Whatever it was. He insisted, your father said. Half measures invite half loyalties. That's no

e here the same week you did. He's been watching for fifteen years to make sure nobody ever pulled this thread. The moment word reach

show this to

a guest currently under Marrow protection during a betrothal that half our northern alliance depends on. If we accuse him now, with this alone, he'll simply

hat do

what was on it. And we do it fast, because I don't think Corvin Hale

throat, but it was only Emory, standing there with a grim look on his face an

ouncil. Somebody's sent word that the Ashbourne Alpha has been harboring a Duskwoo

went pale. "

at Wren, something apologetic and grim in his eyes. "The council convenes at dawn. Two hours from