“Please.”

“And when he apologizes with satisfactory passion—maybe a little groveling for good measure—you can introduce the two of them properly. Roan can feed him a cut of meat.”

I turned back in my seat.

“You’d started off so well.”

Esska slapped me on the back before rubbing the spot she’d sent aching.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you outside where we can both think straight. I’ll snag us some food, and you can tell me everything while we walk.”

Sighing, I gave in, dragging myself up and bumping around my hut in preparation. I got myself together quickly, but I didn’t miss the way Esska kept looking at the spaces where my supplies used to be. When I’d laced my boots, we pushed out into the morning air, Goose close on our heels. Esska made good on her promise to secure us both breakfast—a hot grain porridge—and we headed out to the bluffs. It was the best place to get some privacy while I confessed my treachery of the night before, and when I’d finished the story and we’d finished our grub, we both sat and looked out over the sea.

Elsynbr seemed in a sort. The waves were choppy and rough, battering the rocks below with a fury, and I watched as the water churned into a frothy white. The wind was cold in my face, and it brought a wetness to the corners of my eyes. Goose gave up on his attempt to catch insects inthe tall grasses behind us, and he came alongside me, grunting as he laid down and pressed into my thigh.

“Where did you hide your things?”

She asked it quietly, like she was trying to leave her emotions out of it, but I couldn’t help but feel that the attempt had the opposite effect. I glanced at her. Her blond hair shone in the sunlight, braided down the back and pulled over her shoulder, and her eyes were as blue as the sky. I’d seen so much of her in Roan, and it had startled me. Same blond, same blue; that strong jaw and the Faasval nose. There was little more than a year between them, and the two could have passed for twins.

I hadn’t been expecting it.

I turned back to the waves.

“In the wall. Under the mattress. At the—the bottom of my laundry.”

She nodded before pushing off the ground.

“Well, I think you should be yourself,” she said. “I, for one, am tired of doing what I’m told. Sometimes a person needs to raise a little hell.”

I smiled, but Esska turned away without having seen it, and it was for the better. It was a sad and half-hearted thing. The truth was, Esska was in a much better position to raise hell than I was. Sometimes she forgot that.

“Anyway, you don’t have to worry about Roan having seen.” She shook out her skirt. “He won’t snitch.”

I blew a frustrated sigh from between my lips. She wanted to trust her brother, and I could admire that. Of course I wanted her to think well of him.

But it would have been nice to have someone to hate him with me, preferably while we sat on my bed eating maple candies. I knew Icouldn’t ask that of her.

I looked at Goose, still pressed against my leg. “Guess that just leaves you,” I mumbled, and he cocked his head at my words.

It wasn’t like I had anyone else.

When we got back to the village, we found the mood had changed. The once sleepy streets were now teeming with people, and there was an excitement in the air that I couldn’t place.

“What’s going on?” Esska asked a passerby.

The young boy looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, like Rynwin herself stood before him, and the blush that rose in his cheeks made my brows lift higher. Had he even begun learning his bow? I knew Esska was beautiful and considered a prize, but, Toke’s bits, were even the young not immune?

“It’s a meeting,” he said. His hand went to his hair, trying to smooth down a tuft that had no intention of cooperating. “The men are giving some important news.”

“When?”

“Just as soon as everyone can gather.”

She thanked the boy and turned back to me.

“Well, this sounds interesting.”

I was feeling less intrigued.