THE CROWN OF ASH AND MOONLIGHT

would smell like smoke. She had not known it

ash. Below her, the survivors knelt in rows. Children had been dragged from the cellars, warriors disarmed, and elders forced ont

since the walls fell. Two hundred and six of her

terror in his eyes. Tomas was seventeen and had followed her around the keep l

kno

l quickly, t

k hazel, and a ring of silver had risen around the irises, the

hen he lower

's blood. She had held his head as he died. His last words had not been a blessing or a command. He had gri

there had been no time

hter never runs, her mother used to say, and she never crawls. Her mother was somewher

uiet as she rea

being told, and a man walked through th

, that he'd never lost a duel, that he had burned his own father's banner to take the northern throne. None of them mentioned ho

rk hair was disordered by the wind, his jaw shadowed with stubble, and a thin white scar ran from his temple

sto

ers level with a man's waist and eyes the same burning amber as the kin

id. His voice was lower than she expected,

hter of Alpha Aldric of Ho

soldiers. No one spoke t

nge. "Your father died in

his people from men w

me at

ht when you had sworn peace. Correct me if I'm wrong, Your Maj

that comes before a blade. A captain st

wo fingers, and

ue brave." He did not look away from her. "But you're right ab

e gates were broken, that the Blackthorn had simply

never afte

ired man at the king's shoulder murmured something. His voice was soft, almost fatherly. Chancellor Maren Cael, s

is forfeit. The victor may claim the territory, the armory, and one spoil from the vanquished.

hat the old law meant. Every girl of the packs did, the way you know about d

her han

pha's daughter

ound of grief. It was Tomas. He started to ri

Ysolde sa

s fr

d to meet his eyes. She could smell him now: pine smoke, cold iron, and beneath i

e. "You'll have my name on your slave rolls. You'll have the right

arrowed fr

aid. "Not the part that matters. No

d. The great black wolf at his hee

not quite a smile, only its ghost. It was

" said the

ook her by the arms, not roughly. She noticed that,

lde looked back at the hall where she'd learned to walk. One banner still hung

emori

it silently. And when I do, I

e stood there for three breaths with his jaw tight and a shadow in his eyes that was no

llowed his spoil