Lisabet flinched, though the news couldn’t be a surprise. She turned her head, glancing across the city to where the Ulfar Academy gates were hidden behind streets and buildings, and Anders wondered if a part of her had somehow imagined going... well,home,despite everything that had happened.
“It looks like the wolves and people of Holbard are believing her,” Anders said quietly. “Do you?”
“I think I have things to tell you,” Hayn said. “And that I’d better just do it, and then we’ll see what’s what.”
“All right,” Anders said, exchanging a glance with Lisabet and Rayna. “Go on, then.”
“For a start,” Hayn said, his tone solemn, “I believe that you and your sister are wolf and dragon born. You have mixed blood.”
“Yes,” said Rayna. “We know that.”
Hayn’s jaw dropped. “How could you possibly know?” he asked. “Everyone thinks it’s impossible.”
“Leif, the Drekleid, told us,” Rayna said.
Hayn nodded slowly. “And was he able to tell you who your parents were? Because I believe I can.”
Rayna gasped, and a thrill went through Anders. “N-no,” he stammered. “He didn’t know.”
“Or he didn’t say,” Lisabet put in.
“I will,” Hayn said quietly. “Anders, Lisabet, I’ve told you before that my brother, Felix, and I used to work with the dragonsmith Drifa. We designed artifacts, she forged them. The three of us were close. We worked together for years. The story is that Drifa murdered Felix and then fled. That was what reignited the feud between dragons and wolves, and ultimately led to the last great battle. I believed it when I was told—after all, he was dead, and she was seen fleeing, and after that she vanished. It came out of the blue—they’d always seemed to like each other, even care for each other—but I could see no other explanation. But deep down...” He sighed, looking out at the moored ships, pensive. “Deep down, I’ve always wondered.”
Anders could barely breathe. “What do you think now?” he whispered.
Hayn swallowed and looked back at Anders, and then at Rayna. “Now, I wonder if he was killed by someone else. I wonder if Drifa and Felix did more than care for each other. I wonder if they werebothattacked, and if she ran because she was pregnant. If she had to protect herself.”
“So, you mean...” Anders could barely say the words.
“Yes,” said Hayn quietly. “I believe you and your sister might be the children of Drifa and of my brother—mytwinbrother—Felix. That you might be my niece and nephew. You’re exactly the right age.”
“But, but...”
Anders had never heard Rayna at a loss for words before. For his part, he was staring at Hayn, suddenly seeing a sadness etched in the man’s face that he’d never noticed before. Anders couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose Rayna. He could see how Hayn might have believed the worst all these years.
Lisabet broke the silence. “So you’re their uncle?”
A new wave of shock hit Anders.An uncle.He’d spent his whole life longing to know his parents, and now he had someone right here in front of him, someone he liked, even admired... a member of his family.
Perhaps he and Rayna weren’t alone anymore.
Abruptly Rayna fumbled inside her coat. “We can find out,” she said hurriedly. Her hands were shaking, and it took her three tries, but she yanked the little red-and-silver purse Leif had given her free of her pocket and held it out to Hayn. “Here, open this.”
Hayn took it in one big hand, turning it over. “It’s an artifact,” he said, impressed. “Excellent workmanship. I think this was Eliot, I’d know his work anywhere. Now, what does it...” He studied the tiny runes engraved along the clasp, and then understanding lit his face. “It recognizes family,” he said. He hesitated, then cleared his throat softly. Anders couldn’t help but wonder if Hayn was as nervous as he was. And then Hayn’s thick fingers pushed at the little silver clasp.
And the purse popped open.
They all stared at it—even Ellukka craned her neck to see what had happened—and Hayn’s mouth curved to a slow smile as he handed the purse back to Rayna. “Well,” he said softly, and then he had to push up his glasses and use one finger to carefully wipe the moisture from his eyes. “Well. I wonder if Felix knew. I hope he did. Drifa must have hidden you with someone in the city—the wolves were hunting her, and whoever killed Felix would have been doing the same to stop her from telling the truth—but I know she would have meant to come back for you. And I think she would have meant for me to meet you.”
“You found us anyway,” Anders said softly. “How?”
“Ennar and her class came back with a story about you telling them all your sister was a dragon,” Hayn said. “And after that I spent a lot of time thinking. The first time I met you, I thought how much you looked like my brother at the same age, and that stuck with me. In fact, it was why out of all the wolves in this square that day, I led the pursuit when you ran for it, Anders. I’d been staring while you were on the dais, even though I knew there was no way you could actually be Felix’s son.”
“Except he was,” Lisabet murmured.
Hayn nodded. “Twins run in the family, and after I heard word you were claiming to have a sister, I thought back twelve or thirteen years. I knew all the dragons that came into the city to work with wolf designers. There weren’t an endless number of candidates.”
“Gosh, maybe you’re going to grow up as big as Uncle Hayn,” Rayna said with a giggle, elbowing Anders. He knew, though he was sure the others didn’t, that she was trying out the title, looking for an excuse to say it out loud.
