“Saoirse.” Father greets me mentally, a large sweet smile transforms his face from where he sits at the council table, beside the other twelve representatives of the four Lupinel clans. In his place of honour on the long dark wood table, he looks dwarfed by the sheer size of the men surrounding him, but he is confident and calm. I have missed him, and the distance between us is momentarily forgotten. “Are you well? Fenrir and Ljubica?”
“They are doing well and so am I. How did you sleep last night?” I return sitting down beside him, with Lycur on my left beside his father. King Lyall looks troubled and much older than I have ever seen him. My heart goes out to him for what he will be forced to do today. For the first time, I understand the true cost that Mother has had to endure by being
