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“I love her,” Emi said through a sob. “And I betrayed her heart the same as…as my heart was betrayed.”

“No.” I shook her shoulders slightly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “No, Emi. You saved me. You saved Roark. You never hurt Yrsa the way your father hurt his family.”

“Forgive me. I don’t know what came over me.” Emi straightened and laughed a little nervously. “Just…thoughts of her, of my mother, I think they would’ve gotten on so well. Yrsa is a royal, but gods, she has a wild spirit. No one loves to swim or climb or take risks in the shadows quite like her. I think that is why she and Thane are such good friends too.”

“They are both reckless fools?”

Emi laughed, loud and free. “Yes. I suppose you could say that. I have no doubt, left to their own devices in Stonegate, soon we will hear of the whole ancient keep being scorched to the ground by mistake.”

“You will see her again, Emi.” I squeezed her hands. “We are finding a way back into Stonegate, for Kael, for Thane, and for Yrsa. Do not doubt for a moment that she is not in our thoughts as one who is in danger.”

“I have no doubt the prince and Yrsa are wed.” Emi stared at her hands. “I did not want to be the mistress, but I wanted to be there for her. For Thane.”

“We don’t know what’s happened since we left,” I told her. “Until we do, you cannot dwell on what might be. She needs you to fight against enemies she does not know are there. Yrsa loves you. She might be hurt, and I understand such hurt, but she will listen to you.”

Emi gave me a wan smile. “I hope you’re right. Truly.”

I helped Emi place new blooms on her mother’s burial mound, then King Vishon’s, then the third—Nivek’s.

“We’ll find the truth,” I whispered, a burn in my blood, like the prince could truly hear. “We’ll stop the bloodshed. You did not allow me to say it before, but thank you. I swear to taunt him a bit in honor of you.”

A commotion rose at the end of the wooded path when we reached the courtyard again. Brynn was there, laughing until tears fell to her cheeks. She had her hair braided over her shoulder and wore tattered trousers and a tight top made of linen and leather that revealed a great deal of her middle, and across her belt were pouches that smelled of meat.

Auki tromped down the steps into the courtyard, shouting. “Stop flailing. Gods, are you Draven or not? You need to command, no…command him!”

Emi and I shared a bemused look, then quickened our steps to the courtyard.

There, we saw a pack of young fara wolves, yapping and nipping at a few fara keepers’ belts, where more pouches of meat were at the level of their snouts.

Fara pups struck my upper thigh, but Brynn taught me that in the weeks after a wolf bonds with a soul, that is when their frightening height and strength take hold.

For now, this young pack would remain the size of true wolves while being tamed and trained by the keepers.

Brynn had lost her ability to keep upright, and doubled over, laughing, gasping.

I understood why.

Roark was cornered near the wall, fighting for his life. A fara pup panted and yapped and attempted to howl more than once. The creature jumped, trying to lick the prince’s face, then the wolf would land and spin around, its backside curling inward as though he could not contain his delight at the sight of Roark.

Overpowered, all the man could do was try to shove the pup away to get his palms positioned to calm the beast.

Auki kept shouting curses and his disappointment for the prince’s lack of skill. Brynn’s laughs trailed off, but her face was the shade of a bloody sun and damp with tears. She blew out a shuddering breath, blinking rapidly until she found me and Emi.

“Lyra.” She bit down on her bottom lip until her voice steadied. “I think you may have just added to your household.”

Dammit. “The wolf is bonding…”

“Seems so,” she said when I did not go on. “I’d bet my life that your husband finally got his wolf.”

A loud grunt escaped Roark’s throat when he managed to push the excitable pup. With the help of Auki, he placed his palms over the brow of the panting wolf, and little by little, the creature fell to one side, slumbering, jaws open, like it was smiling.

I bit back a laugh and slipped my arm around Roark’s waist. He jumped in surprise but relaxed when he recognized me.

With a quick kiss to my head, he waved one hand in front. Damn beast won’t leave me alone.

“Hmm. I think you might be glad about it.”

A flush of red bridged over Roark’s face. He didn’t speak for a long pause. I always wanted a fara, but things are different now.