"Serena. Let me explain."
Elara caught the tent flap before it closed.
"First off, I wasn't sure if you were the reason. I wasn't going to put that on your conscience. And we were both just girls when it happened."
Serena gripped the edge of the table, her back to Elara.
"What was he referring to with my blood?"
"I don't know why Garrett cut that off. Your blood was never an issue as far as I knew."
Elara's voice cracked on the last word.
Serena didn't turn around. If she looked at Elara right now, she would either forgive her too quickly or say something she couldn't take back.
"Go freshen up, El."
Long after Elara left, the tent held the particular silence of a room that had just been argued in. Serena stared at the table surface and didn't see it.
She didn't notice that Hyran had entered until he sat down.
"You're brooding," he observed. "I recognize the posture. I invented it."
Serena spoke, not looking up. "My mother grew up with Nightspire. He's who Elara and I were trying to get to originally."
"Believe it or not," she added dryly.
He chuckled. "Why did you lie about your wolf to him?"
What he meant was: why did you lie about never having shifted. But he gave her the courtesy of the softer question.
"The truth…" She took a deep breath. "I haven't shifted before. When people ask that question, I always say grey. I answered out of habit."
She didn't meet his eyes. "With wolves, it's odd for someone of my age to not have shifted."
"I was born in Drakenfell. I grew up with wolves. And I can count." Hyran paused, letting that land. "Your wolf came when you were cuffed."
"You would be correct."
"So what, your powers bloomed much later than your wolf. If you want to talk about embarrassing. For a mage, that's way worse."
Serena burst out laughing.
"True."
"Everything with Nightspire is a game of chess," she said. "There was a reason he did that. I don't believe he's one of the five traitors, but he's someone I'd classify as morally grey."
Hyran snorted. "There isn't a person in this camp who isn't morally grey. Some of us just hide it better than others."
"I hadn't heard that was why Frostborne was invaded until today," she confessed, forcing her voice calm. "There hasn't been a direct attack on Drakenfell in hundreds of years. It's happened twice since I arrived." Her voice cracked. "My blood—"
Hyran cut her off mid-sentence. "What a remarkably self-important way to volunteer to die." He crossed his arms, expression flat. "No."
"You don't know—"
Hyran held up one hand, and Serena stopped mid-sentence.
"You hand over the variable and the problem doesn't go away. It accelerates." He leaned back, eyes narrowing. "Think."
"Or, it stops history from repeating," Serena countered. "I will not stand idle while they dismantle Skardos if it's me they're after."
"You are assuming they want your blood for something other than conquest," he said, in the tone of someone correcting arithmetic. "No king has ever gone to war for the reason he publicly claimed."
"Assume you're right about the motive," Serena pressed. "Is there still a deal to be made? Everyone got along before I arrived."
Hyran considered her. Opened his mouth. Closed it.
Gavriel entered the tent at that moment.
"There she is." He grinned at her. "How does it feel to be the most wanted woman in Skardos? And I don't mean that in the sexy way. I mean that in the 'multiple assassination attempts' way."
Serena started to laugh, but it came out wrong, half-choked and wet.
Gavriel's smile vanished. He crossed the space between them in two strides and pulled her into a hug.
"Don't cry, Serena. Damn. He was just trying to rattle you."
"He didn't rattle me, Gav."
Gavriel pulled back, holding her at arm's length. Then he burst out laughing.
"Didn't rattle you? You're crying."
"These are unrelated tears."
"Unrelated tears," he repeated, shaking his head. "Unrelated my ass. That's the worst lie you've ever told, and I once watched you tell Dexmon you were fine while you were bleeding out."
✦✦✦
From across the camp, Fin made his way towards Garrett's tent. They had long stopped trying to hide their alliance. It was known they were close.
Brothers in arms. They'd saved each other's lives too many times.
He entered, arms crossed, his expression that of a man who'd been carrying something heavy all day and was done pretending otherwise.
"Any alpha king that gets within ten feet of Serena, I hear about it first. And I'm there when it happens. Non-negotiable."
Garrett turned a page on the map. "Good afternoon to you too."
"Serena is tough. She can hold her own," Garrett said, still not looking up. "You don't need to worry about her."
"What the hell did I walk in on then?"
"She's crowned, marked and mated, Finnick."
"No. Not really."
Garrett's head snapped up, meeting Fin's gaze. "What does that mean?"
"I marked her last night," Fin answered flatly. "Dexmon was with the Viremont Princess."
The words landed like a fist. Garrett went very still, the kind of still that means the opposite of calm.
"You what." Not a question. His voice dropped half a register. "The Drakenfell prince was with someone else. Was he cheating on her?"
"As in I don't know what the hell I saw. Aeron has been with their master healer all day to get Dexmon sorted out. Viremont's daughter did something to him, but I'm not sure what."
It took a moment for that to sink in fully.
"Why did you mark her?"
"Because she was dying," Fin answered. "She broke her matebond with him. It hurt her wolf, because she has silver poisoning." His face darkened. "Her body went into shock. And Dexmon wouldn't."
"She's also my second chance fated mate," Fin added. "I offered full military support and open borders to Drakenfell. Tiberon gave his blessing."
Garrett's face shifted from shock to outrage back to shock.
He let out a long breath. "Can't say I was expecting that." He then shook his head and gave a reluctant grin. "You are way too damn good at negotiating. That tops the time you convinced me to apologize to Lord Craveth. In writing. With a wax seal."
"He deserved the apology."
"He absolutely did not and you know it."
Garrett sat back down in his chair.
"Why was she in silver?"
"Viremont. I don't know the full details," Fin said, sitting down across from Garrett.
"If I see Dexmon with that princess, I am going to kick his ass."
"I felt the same way, but it sounds like he was under the influence of something the Viremont Princess did." Fin's jaw tightened. "Serena deserves better."
"Like father, like daughter," Garrett said. "Where is she now?"
"I'm not sure. Hopefully a dungeon with no windows."
Garrett snorted. "I would bet money that Viremont is one of the five traitor packs. King Grimward and King Ashbourne both met in his tent earlier. Doesn't take a scholar to read those tea leaves."
"Agreed."
"Are you planning on taking Serena back to Shadowclaw with you?"
"I am," Fin answered with finality. "Need to talk to her about that part."
Garrett snorted. "How are you planning to pitch that? 'By the way, you are coming back to Shadowclaw with me—'"
Fin cut him off. "It's not like I can approach her openly here. She left this morning before I could talk to her about it."
Garrett dragged a hand down his face. "I did not need that image."
Before Fin could respond, the tent flap ripped open. One of Garrett's soldiers stood in the gap, breathing hard.
"Your Highness, Viremont just requested a private audience with the Drakenfell princess."
"Over my dead body." Fin was already moving.