Page 112 of Given to the Black King

“You carry the whistle.”

“Yes.”

“You tell me before Vess uses you in another trap.”

I consider that.

“Yes.”

His eyes narrow.

“I mean it.”

“So do I.”

He lifts my hand and smells the blood on my knuckles.

“I heard you ask him what I could smell.”

“It frightened him.”

“It frightened me.”

I touch the hinge of his jaw. The hard pressure there is easing, though the fangs remain exactly where they always are.

“You came when I needed you.”

“I will always come.”

The promise settles between us without touching the rite.

A horn sounds three times from the outer wall. Ghenn enters without knocking.

“Osk broke camp before dusk,” he says. “A little over four thousand on the north road. A day and a half, perhaps less.”

Torgan rises.

“Council room.”

Ghenn goes. Torgan looks down at me.

“You are leaving at first light.”

“No.”

His claws come out again. Neither of us gives ground.

TORGAN

Iput a guard on her door.

She walks past him before I reach the council room.

The guard looks at me as she enters.

I look at the guard.

He decides the floor requires study.