The Fox drummed his fingers against the knotted wood, then slammed the silver wolf ring on his center knuckle over the boards. “You are nothing but a traitorous bitch. You found the craft in her blood, but instead of turning to your king, you turned to our enemies!”

More gasps. By now, Kael’s pale eyes locked with mine across the hall. He jerked his head, a silent signal for me to duck into the back rooms.

I took another step, but my heart bottomed out. Every damn doorway was all at once filled with a Stav Guard, blades out.

My fingers trembled, and a storm, sharp and dangerous, filled Kael’s eyes. He knew as well as I—we were trapped.

Baldur rounded the corner of the table, stalking Vella like the sly creature of his name. “But it goes deeper, doesn’t it, woman? You were the one who sent word to Fadey that melder blood was sensed at the Red Ravines. Your word lured him out of the gates, and nearly over Draven borders. Tell me, did you stand by as the Dark Watch tore him apart?”

The inked runes on Vella’s fingers distorted when she flexed and clenched her fists, once, twice. “Captain, I do not know—”

“Clever of you to wait some time before turning over the next melder to Dravenmoor,” Baldur interjected, taking a step closer to the woman. “It would’ve been foolish to act too swiftly, but you’ve known for some time, haven’t you? That the melder was in your gates.”

Mead in the ewer sloshed when my grip trembled. No one, not even Vella, knew of me.

I was…I was certain of it.

Blood drained from my face when Ashwood, in all his dark silence, lifted his gaze to me. My pulse pounded in my skull, loud enough I was certain he could hear it.

“Your own jarl sold you out when he found one of your correspondences.” Baldur canted his head, sneering down at Vella. “Anything to say?”

The woman didn’t look away. “I did nothing but protect our people from tyrants. You misuse the craft of the gods, and the melder was your way to do it. I will not let it happen again.”

“We’ll see.” Baldur snapped his fingers.

From the shadowed corners, Stav Guard shot into the hall.

Hilda screamed when a guard tore her away from Gisli, her new husband. A blade leveled at the man’s throat when he tried to reach his wife. Edvin was tossed into the center of the hall next, his three young ones clinging to his wife’s skirt, sobbing as they watched their father forced onto his knees.

The moment Kael was approached, it was clear the Stav Guard was claiming the bone crafters. In another breath, I was yanked away from the table, forcefully enough the ewer clattered on the floorboards, spilling mead across the boots of startled folk.