Alaric asked for a private meeting before breakfast. I refused before Marin finished reading the request.

"Reason?" she asked.

"Because he wants a private meeting."

She smiled.

"Legally insufficient."

"Fine. Because every important fact in this case became dangerous

Marcus Vane reached the north field before sunset. Not as a raider. Not as an envoy. As an Alpha with banners. Hundreds of wolves filled the snow below Blackthorn's outer wall. Vane blue. Steel.

Cavalry behind infantry. Siege hooks. Two portable rams. No more deniabilit

Judgment began after sunrise. Lucian was still in the infirmary. Alive. Stable enough that the healer no longer used the word critical. Not well enough to sit in a hall.

This was not his judgment to watch from a throne. Frostmere Hall had survived the fighting with