Emily's POV
The air in the keep was stifling, a dense smog of paranoia that settled down upon the stone walls and could not be scalded away by even firelight. Every dark spot appeared to be harboring an espionage; every whisper seemed to be a plot.
He arrived three days after Maren's confession.
The three days had been a frenzied scuffle of inquisitions, patrol-alterations, and a scouting of the features of faithful servants to detect any signs of treachery. We had been waiting for the other show to drop, waiting for Claus to realize his deepest roots in Ironclaw had been ripped out. When the response finally came, it was nothing as we anticipated.
No army. No wolves on either flank. Just a single rider on a pale horse, moving at a deliberate pace through the outer gate, as t
