The summit dragged through speeches and requests for aid. During a recess, I left Kaelen speaking with another Alpha and stepped into a quieter corridor.
Zane was waiting there.
He held a familiar clay bowl with steam rising from it. Fire-Thistle soup. I knew the smell before he lifted his head.
He took one step toward me and offered the bowl. "Aria. You always got cold during long councils. I made this for you."
The same bowl had once waited for me after every patrol. The last time I saw it, Zane had carried it to Sera.
I looked at the soup and remembered how hungry I had been that night.
"I don't drink that anymore."
Zane lowered the bowl. His lips parted, but he found nothing to say.
One of Kaelen's guards approached with a crystal goblet of pale, shimmering liquid.
"Your ice-s
