Chapter 5

Anara POV

The floor was a lot farther away than I remembered.

I got both feet onto it, one bare and the other bandaged, and held the bedpost until the room stopped moving.

A horn sounded.

Three notes.

I knew that horn. Silverfang. I'd heard it every morning from beneath the east stairs. The king's riders had arrived.

Except this time, they had come for me.

"Oh, no."

I pulled a grey shirt over my head, found a cloak hanging over a chair and struggled into it. The horn sounded again.

When I opened the door, a man was leaning against the opposite wall with a steaming mug in his hand.

Sebastian.

"That's impressive," he remarked.

I frowned. "What?"

"Yesterday you couldn't sit up without looking like you were about to meet the Moon Goddess. Today you're attempting an escape. Should I be concerned?"

"The Silverfang riders are here," I told him.

"I noticed."

"They've come for me."

"Yes. They have."

"Where's the Alpha?"

"Down by the river."

"I need to speak to him."

"You need to be in bed," Sebastian argued.

"Sebastian, please."

He stared at me, then set his mug on the windowsill.

"If you fall, I'm not carrying you," he warned.

"All right."

"That was a lie. I'll complain the entire way."

He offered his arm.

We crossed the courtyard slowly. My legs trembled, and twice I had to stop when my vision darkened. Sebastian talked about a kitchen cat that had bitten him. I suspected he was trying to distract me.

Ravenmere was swollen with snowmelt, rushing over the rocks. Twenty riders waited on the opposite bank in blue and silver, the royal crest shining on their chests. Nightfall's warriors had gathered on our side.

Leander stood at the front.

His dark coat was buttoned to the throat. The warriors behind him seemed to take their positions according to his movements.

Sebastian guided me behind a stone post.

"Stay here," he instructed.

"I want to hear," I protested.

"You can hear from here."

A rider stepped forward with a scroll bearing the royal seal.

"By order of His Majesty, Alaric Moonvale, Alpha King of Silverfang, the girl known as Anara, second-born of the royal house, is charged with crossing the kingdom's border without permission and assaulting Princess Lyra Moonvale on the eve of her name day," Captain Harlow announced.

My mouth fell open.

Assaulting her?

Captain Harlow continued reading.

"Her actions have brought dishonour upon the royal household. Her sentence is death. Nightfall is commanded to surrender her immediately."

Leander didn't move.

"Is that all?" the Alpha asked.

"You have heard the charges. The king expects compliance," Captain Harlow replied.

"Then the king will be disappointed," Leander said.

"She's on your land, Blackwood," Harlow pointed out.

"She is."

"She crossed the border illegally."

"Then your king should remember the treaty he signed concerning border crossings. Anyone who enters Nightfall without a pack belongs to its Alpha until their claim is settled," Leander explained.

"She's not a rogue. She's a royal daughter," Harlow argued.

"Then why did your king leave her to cross a freezing river alone?" Leander asked.

Nobody on the opposite bank answered.

Leander took one step forward.

"Does His Majesty know what happened to her before she reached my territory?" he demanded.

"That is not relevant," Harlow replied.

"Interesting. It became relevant enough for him to demand her execution," Leander remarked.

Captain Harlow's expression hardened.

"Three days. Return the girl within three days, or Silverfang will consider this an act of aggression."

"And if I refuse?" Leander asked.

"The Ashwood warriors will cross the border. Prince Cassian has personally requested command of the expedition," Harlow announced.

The name struck harder than I expected.

Cassian.

I was back in the palace garden, watching him turn away from me while my sister stood beside him. I had thought he would be relieved.

A sound escaped my mouth.

Sebastian glanced down at me.

"Don't," he warned.

"I have to go back," I whispered.

"No, you don't," Sebastian replied.

"They'll attack Nightfall because of me."

"They'll attack Nightfall because their king has decided to threaten us."

"People will die."

I pushed away from the stone.

Leander turned at the movement.

I stepped into view, gripping Sebastian's arm to remain upright.

"I'll go," I announced.

"Anara, get back behind the post," Leander ordered.

"I'll go back to Silverfang. Just tell them not to hurt anyone here."

"That's not happening," Leander replied.

"They'll kill your people."

"And they'll kill you."

"Then at least…"

"Don't finish that sentence," Leander interrupted.

His voice wasn't loud, but it stopped me.

I looked towards the riders. Captain Harlow was watching us with undisguised satisfaction.

"She's the one you want," I called. "I'm here. You can take me."

"Anara," Leander warned.

Captain Harlow exchanged a glance with one of his men.

"Your cooperation is appreciated. Come forward, girl," he instructed.

I took one step.

Leander moved between us.

"She isn't going anywhere," he declared.

"Then you have chosen war," Harlow replied.

"I've chosen not to hand a sick woman to men who arrived carrying an execution order," Leander said.

Harlow's gaze shifted towards me.

"She doesn't look particularly sick," the captain remarked.

"Would you like to come closer and examine her?" Leander challenged.

Then one of the horses on the opposite bank began rearing.

Its rider struggled to control it, but the animal kept pulling backwards. Another horse followed, then another.

The riders started shouting.

"What's wrong with them?" Sebastian muttered.

A strange sensation travelled down my spine, beginning beneath the bandages covering the scar I carried for as long as I could remember.

The silver-thread mark burned.

I grabbed Sebastian's arm.

"Something's wrong," I whispered.

Sebastian looked at me.

"What?"

"My back."

Across the river, the horses had stopped moving.

Every single one of them.

Their ears were pointed towards me.

Captain Harlow turned in his saddle. His expression changed when he saw where they were looking.

"What is that?" he demanded.

Leander glanced over his shoulder.

But before I could speak, a low growl rolled across the river.

It hadn't come from the horses.

It had come from me.

Sebastian slowly released my arm.

"Anara?"

The scar on my back burned harder. Then the sensation vanished.

I stumbled.

Leander caught me before I hit the ground.

"Get her inside!" he ordered.

But Captain Harlow had already dismounted. He was staring at me as though he'd just seen a ghost.

"That's impossible," he whispered.

Leander looked towards him.

"What is?"

Harlow didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached inside his uniform and pulled out a small silver pendant bearing the royal crest.

The moment he raised it, the pendant began to vibrate.

His face was drained of colour.

"By the Moon Goddess..."

"What are you looking at?" Leander demanded.

Captain Harlow looked from the pendant to me.

"That mark."

I felt Leander's arm tighten around my back.

"What mark?" the Alpha asked.

"The royal blood seal," Harlow answered.

Nobody spoke.

Harlow swallowed.

"Your Majesty told us the second princess was born without a wolf."

My mouth went dry.

He looked directly at me.

"Then why is the royal seal responding to her?"

Leander's expression became unreadable.

I looked down. There was nothing there.

But the captain was still holding the trembling pendant.

And since I had crossed Ravenmere, I wondered whether the king had sent his riders to bring me home because he wanted me dead...

Or because he was afraid of what I might become.

"Three days, Blackwood," Harlow said, climbing back onto his horse. "Make your decision before the next moonrise."

The riders withdrew.

Leander looked down at me.

"Sebastian. Take her to my chambers."

Sebastian glanced at him.

"What about you?"

"I have something to investigate," Leander replied.

His eyes returned to mine.

"And Anara?"

"Yes?" I answered.

"Until I know what that captain saw, nobody is to examine your blood, your scar or your wolf. Nobody. Not even the healer."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he turned towards the river, where the last traces of the royal riders had disappeared.

I had thought the worst thing that could happen to me was being rejected by my mate.

I was beginning to suspect that it wasn't even close.