All Chapters of Forbidden Under the Blood Moon: Chapter 311 - Chapter 320

POV: KADE ASHBORN"You want me to believe Lady Wren will hide in the east tower with her pains coming this fast? Either you trust me completely, Kade, or you think I am a fool. Which is it?"Stroud sat across the long table in the war room with his big scarred hands flat on the wood. He was a broad man with a grey beard and a voice like a rockslide. He had fought beside my father and then, to everyone's surprise, beside me. I did not like what I was doing to him."I trust you," I lied. "That is why I am telling you. Wren will be moved to the east watchtower at dusk. One door, one stair, ten guards. I need you to keep it secret.""From whom?""From everyone."He grunted. "Then why tell me at all?""Because I need one man who can hold a door."That softened him, just a little. His shoulders eased. "The east tower is a good choice. Narrow stairs." He leaned back. "I will say what I said at the last council, Kade, and you will not like it. The charter has made us soft. If your father had

POV: KADE ASHBORN"She is fighting the pull, Kade. The baby wants the north and Wren wants to stay, and I cannot tell which one is winning. Keep that envoy away from this door, or I will not answer for what happens."Maren stood in the narrow doorway of the birthing room with her sleeves rolled and her braid damp with sweat. Behind her, I could hear Wren breathing in long, ragged pulls. A candle guttered. The air smelled of lavender and hot iron."Is she hurt?""She is in labour, and she is stubborn. Both are normal." Maren dropped her voice. "The other thing is not. Ask Dorrin to bring every candle in the castle. The baby is leaning north, and the light seems to calm her.""Anything. Tell her I am here.""She knows." Maren's face softened, only for a second. "She has asked for you three times. I told her you were guarding the door. She said that was the second best place for you."The door closed. I pressed my forehead against the wood and hated every inch of it. All my life I had kn

POV: KADE ASHBORN"Tell me the truth, Stroud. If I handed my daughter over tonight, would you sleep better? Because I need to know whether I am leading this council, or only hosting it."The words fell into the war room like a dropped sword. Eleven councillors sat around the long table, and every one of them stopped moving. Pale noon light slanted through the high windows. I had not slept in thirty hours, and my voice came out harder than I meant.Stroud did not flinch. "I would sleep better, yes. And I would hate myself for it.""Then why say it?""Because somebody must." He folded his hands. "Rime is polite today. Next month, he will not be. The Conclave has numbers we have never seen. If the price of peace is one measurement, I say pay it.""A measurement," Tamsin said sharply. "Do you hear yourself? He wants to listen to a child who was born yesterday.""And what is the harm in listening?""The harm," I said, "is that he asked to take her north. Wren heard it from a woman who has

POV: KADE ASHBORN"He is half a Vane dog, my lord, and you would give him command of my border? Then let him prove it in the ring. I will fight him, and I will not stop at first blood."Garrick Voss stood in the middle of the practice yard with a blunted war sword in one fist and his jacket stripped off. His arms were thick as logs. Around us, half the castle had crowded the rails, and the Conclave's envoy sat on a bench at the edge of the yard with his staff across his knees, smiling as if it were a play.I stood on the raised platform where the council judged trials. Beside me, Ronan held a second sword. At the foot of the platform, Cody waited. He had washed the blood from his face, and the bruise on his cheek was swelling purple. He looked young, and he looked calm."The charter allows rank by deed, not by blood," I said. "Cody has challenged for captaincy of the border guard. Garrick has answered the challenge. The rules are simple. Weapons down at yield, or at the judge's word."

POV: KADE ASHBORN"Cody's mercy handed the north a knife, Kade. Either you rule with a firm hand tonight, or I gather the wolves who will. I mean that with no hatred, but I mean it."Stroud stood in the empty great hall with his arms crossed and a lamp burning at his feet. The moonlit windows made long silver bars on the floor. The wall assembly had broken up an hour ago, and the crowd had gone to bed with their hearts full of fear. I had walked in search of quiet and found a man ready for war."Stroud." I kept my voice level. "The law of Wren's charter did not fail today. Rime twisted it.""The result is the same. Half the council believes the charter is a toy.""And the other half?""Waits to see what you do." His eyes were not unkind. "I am old, Kade. I do not want a fight with you. But if the Conclave comes at the next blood moon, I will not send young wolves to die for a rule that could not even protect a rank trial.""Then give me one month.""For what?""To prove it holds." I t