Emily's POV
It was shortly after the second hour of the night when the council meeting was over.
I scarcely recalled what was said in it. I was there throughout. I spoke where I had to, listened where I had to, watched Rollins move through the necessary decisions with that focused, stripped-down clarity he carried after a fight. Only underlying all this, as a current beneath every river, was the sheer and mere fact that we were both still alive.
There were nine days to go on the clock.
Perrin was stable.
We were alive.
As the elder finally walked out and the door shut, and the war room was deserted save the two of us, Rollins stood at the table, with his back to me, his two hands flat on the maps, his head low. His eye was cut above, and he was dressed during the counci
