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I was frozen, locked on the sight of Skul Drek prowling forward, a wonderfully terrifying phantom.

“This is his craft?” I’d not realized Jordis stood beside me, eyes wide. Sindri stood at her side, a look of concern there until he saw the goats and hogs flee the stables, far from the burning longhouse.

Then the boy sneered.

“He controls and destroys the souls of others if he desires, if they deserve it,” I said, a little breathless.

No doubt, Skul Drek had somehow placed Brokk in a bit of a trance, and it was fast fading. Brokk let out a roar of anger, seeming to notice his destroyed estate. No one sought to comfort the sod; most of the Unfettered simply watched, aghast.

By the account of everyone, Brokk put flame to his own home. But from within him emerged a darkness they’d never seen. Some looked on in horror. Others, like Gammal, bore a look of satisfaction.

I watched the flames with dark desire. By the molten hell, the sooner I could put my hands on my husband, the better.

When Skul Drek was five paces away, Roark turned around and strode toward us. His jaw was set. He walked in pace with his darker soul, like a true shadow followed him, drawing nearer with each step.

When he reached us, Skul Drek stepped into Roark from behind. For a fleeting glance, the coppery red of the phantom stared out at us from Roark’s gaze. Coils of shadows remained for a breath, a dark cloak over his shoulders.

Roark walked past Sindri and shoved the coin pouches into the chest of the boy, forcing him to grapple for purchase. A strip of parchment was folded between the two pouches.

The boy gawked at his uncle, holding the payment in his hands. Roark did not look back at his nephew. He stopped by me and brushed a thumb over my cheek. Now we’re ready to leave.

Gods, this man.

Roark ignored the curious glances of the Unfettered Folk and went to help his cousin and Yrsa with the rest of the horses.

Sindri held the parchment. I did not ask permission and scanned the words over the boy’s shoulder.

Sindri looked at me. “Brokk could retaliate.”

I looked back at the man. He was on his knees, wailing. I shook my head. “I would like to see him try to challenge your uncle. That is not the half of what he can do.”

The boy looked down at Roark’s note once more, tracking every symbol.

A prince of Dravenmoor is owned by no one.

45

Lyra

We took the switchback ledges slower than before. More horses and more people joined us on the return.

Gammal insisted on traveling with us to the summit, determined that more time was needed with her elskan.

Despite the word of the Lawspeaker and Thane’s refusal to agree to aid in his mysterious trade trouble without knowing more, two dozen Unfettered Folk joined us up the peaks. Keela, the woman who’d led us over the ledges from Dravenmoor, was the first to offer her blades.

Every Unfettered man or woman brought with them dark, polished spears and a few blades made of bronze and offered to take a stand in whatever battles awaited.

“Perhaps we are shielded by the cliffs,” Keela said, dragging her fingers, painted in dark kohl, down her face. “Perhaps your battles would never find us. But Fadey is Unfettered by blood, and I cannot sit by when one of our own disgraces the gods and seeks to place chains on others. Not when our clans take vows to never overrule the voices of many.”

“Then how do you stomach men like Brokk?”

Keela frowned. “Our laws are made through debts and repaying them. They are meant to be compassionate and fair to those who seek aid or commit crimes.”

“All crimes?”

Keela smirked. “We do not go around embracing rapists or killers, if that is what you’re thinking. But our vows of peace make such brutal crimes rare in our lands. Should they happen, they are dealt with painfully and harshly. I did not agree with the bondage of Jordis and Sindri, but there was nothing we could do. Those were the conditions to which she agreed to keep her son protected behind Brokk’s blood spells. It is how he earned many of his servants. Women who’d fled cruel husbands; men who’d made gambles with the wrong folk. He is a cruel ass, but Brokk merely took advantage of our laws for his own gains.”

“He took advantage of their desperation.”