(Bardolph POV)
Daciana agreed to let me return to Blackfang, but she did not agree to come with me, and that hurt less than I deserved.
Conri sent Gonzalo with twenty Northridge warriors, not because he trusted me, but because he trusted the danger hiding inside my father’s walls.
Farkas insisted on coming despite Tala’s fury, claiming he would rather die walking toward truth than live listening to fools argue over it.
Daciana stood in the lower courtyard before we left, wearing servant brown with her hair tied back and the black feather wrapped in cloth.
She looked like no crown in any kingdom deserved the weight of her head.
I wanted to tell her that.
I did not.
Words had become cheap from my mouth, and she needed actions strong enough to survive after I stopped speaking.
“I wil
