“I promise,” Ariana whispered. She would have promised anything to make that terror leave his face.
Maelis let out a long, shaky breath and released her arm. He sat back on his heels, took off his crooked spectacles, polished them on his sleeve with hands that trembled, and when he put them on again, the smile was back, kind and mild and a little rueful, as if it had never left. The speed of it was almost frightening.
“Thank you, child,” he said gently, rising with a creak of old knees. “Leave the rest to me. I shall tell anyone who asks that the Moon has laid her blessing on the Alpha’s mate, which is a pretty tale and nearly true. Pack wolves love a miracle. It is only the Concord that fears one.” He patted her cheek with a gloved hand and was gone into the crowd, calling for tea.
It
