LOGINMy first thought upon waking was that my head had been split open with an axe. My second was that someone had stuffed wool into my mouth. My third was that my bed smelled wrong. I kept my eyes closed. That seemed safest. The pillow beneath my cheek smelled faintly of leather, pine, and something warm I couldn't place. Something distinctly… Manly.
My eyes snapped open. Instant regret. Pain stabbed through my s
By the time I found Carlin again, my headache had become the least important thing in the world. The room was crowded. Seekers stood shoulder to shoulder around a long wooden table, some still wearing armor. Mud covered boots. Bandages wrapped arms and heads. One man had dried blood streaked across the side of his face, and I couldn't tell whether it belonged to him.No one spoke above a murmur. Carlin stood near the back. Ev was beside him. Zeph stood on her other side, arms folded tightly across his chest. I slipped through the doorway. Carlin noticed me immediately.Of course he did.His eyes traveled over me, probably checking that I'd managed to dress myself without falling over, before settling on my face.I moved beside him. "What happened?"
My first thought upon waking was that my head had been split open with an axe. My second was that someone had stuffed wool into my mouth. My third was that my bed smelled wrong. I kept my eyes closed. That seemed safest. The pillow beneath my cheek smelled faintly of leather, pine, and something warm I couldn't place. Something distinctly… Manly.My eyes snapped open. Instant regret. Pain stabbed through my skull, and I groaned, squeezing them shut again."Nope."Whatever was happening could wait. Death seemed preferable. I pulled the blanket higher and tried to disappear beneath it. Then memories began crawling out of whatever dark hole the alcohol had shoved them into. Zin. A bottle. My legs being warm. Laughing. Then Carlin.You're pretty.
"Easy, love."I froze, then closed my eyes. Of course, I thought. When I opened them again, Zin grinned at me."You're out late.""So are you." I pointed out."Yes, but I'm an assassin."I stared at her. "And that means?""I keep unusual hours.""That explains absolutely nothing." I rolled my eyes."It explains most things about me."She released my shoulders, but her eyes immediately traveled past me. Toward the direction Zeph had gone. Her eyebrows lifted.I knew that look. "Don't."
The rest of dinner passed by in a blur. I forced myself to eat, not wanting Carlin to have a reason to hover, especially after he'd already seen me collapse from forgetting to eat before. He was already protective, and now, with everything that had happened, I knew he'd be even more so. However, the knowledge that I *needed* to eat and the *desire* to eat were two very different things. I listlessly pushed a piece of food around my plate with my fork. Suddenly, someone spoke across the table, but I couldn't even register what they said. Ev let out a laugh, and then Zin said something that elicited a mutter from Carlin that sounded suspiciously like a threat.Normally, I would have listened and probably contributed. However, tonight their voices blurred together, becoming little more than noise. The word "elf" kept circling through my thoughts. My fingers drifted toward my ear before I caught myself a
I looked at my hands. They were trembling so badly that the spoon rattled against the table.“My whole life is built around something they took from me.”Carlin leaned closer, lowering his voice even though everyone at the table was already listening.“It only matters because it matters to you,” he said. “It matters because someone lied to you. It matters because they hurt you and taught you to hide part of yourself.” His gaze flicked toward my exposed ears. “But it doesn’t change who you are.”My throat tightened. “You didn’t know what I was ten minutes ago.”“I knew exactly what you were.” Carlin said with a crooked grin
“I think you’re half-elf.”The words struck the table like a dropped blade. Before I could decide whether to laugh, argue, or admit that some terrible part of me already believed him, Ev slammed her cup down. Water jumped over the rim.“Zeph there is a time and place for such an announcement.” Ev SnappedZeph turned toward her. “The timing is irrelevant.”“The timing is absolutely relevant.” Ev bit back.7“Would the truth be different if I waited until morning?” Zeph countered“No, but perhaps Nera would prefer not to have her entire identity torn apart while holding a spoon.”
After that tense moment, my father dismissed me with a flick of his hand, ordering me back to my chambers as though I were a disobedient child. Humiliation burned through me hotter than the hearthfires, my fists clenching at my sides as I stormed away, my footsteps snapping against the cold stone f
My parents sat at the head of the hall, commanding every gaze. Father’s broad shoulders filled his high-backed chair, Mother’s poise as sharp as any blade. Both wore deep green trimmed with brown. The colors of House Verden, echoing the forests that bound our lands. Father’s gaze pinned me the mome
The tea room glowed with firelight and polite chatter, silver spoons clinking gently against porcelain cups. Yet despite the warmth, my father’s cold anger clung to me like frost, coiling tighter the longer I lingered at his side. Something gnawed at him beneath that regal composure, and I
“Come on, Belladonna. If I have to be awake, so do you.” I shoved gently at the great furry mass hogging my blankets. Bella cracked open one amber eye, huffed a hot breath that smelled faintly of venison scraps, and sprawled wider across the bed. Her thick coat was warm under my hand,







