Cottages wouldn’t be ready for Edvin and Hilda until the dawn. I gave up my bed to Edvin’s three young ones while Edvin and Freydis took furs on the floor beside them. Gisli and Hilda laughed in my sitting chamber with me and Kael over mead and sliced plums.

Gisli told us about the despair in Skalfirth after the raid. Jarl Jakobson had not left his longhouse until now, and it seemed old Thorian thought the man deserved his anguish for not intervening for his son.

Kael said little about House Jakobson or the fine his estranged father had offered to entice the king to spare his life.

When the bells rang a midnight toll, Gisli and Hilda left with Kael, and I tried to find sleep beneath a soft quilt near the inglenook of my sitting room.

My fingertips touched the edges of my lips, as if I could feel the warmth of his breath, the nearness of his features. Good gods, I’d nearly kissed the Sentry.

I flattened my palm over the steady thud of my heart, the corners of my mouth curling. Roark Ashwood was beautiful mayhem. Austere and impassive, then aimable and gracious. He was a storm rolling off the tides, but I could not find the strength to run.

Instead, it seemed, I stood at the water’s edge, willing the gale to devour me.

From the glimmer of the next dawn to the twinkling twilight, debauchery filled the gardens, corridors, and halls of Stonegate. King Damir promised a celebration and he delivered mightily.

With Hilda and Freydis at my flanks, we strode through the courtyards with courtiers and ladies. Queen Ingir took the head along with Breetha, the Myrdan queen.

Hilda would not stop beaming, and it lessened the dullness of the evening.

She could hardly contain her joy knowing she would share a house with Gisli again. He was a talented woodworker, and I had few doubts he’d find work aplenty in the fortress.

When the queens settled beneath a bower lined in fresh blooms, other ladies found spots to soak up the last rays of sunlight. I wanted nothing more than to return to my chamber to be free of crowds.

“Lyra.” Freydis took hold of my hand. “We’re to see one of the cottages the king has given us before the feast. Care to join? Or must you remain here?”

My shoulders slumped. “I’m not permitted beyond the gates without an escort. One who happens to be missing.”

I’d not seen Roark the whole of the day. The man did not speak out loud, but his absence had become thundering and aggravating. Whatever affection I festered for the Sentry, I’d be wise to crush it before the king, or Kael, or worse—Roark—found out the truth.