The prince had just sworn to tell his country that Crows were worth protecting.

But they only had his word. Fie knew how flimsy a Phoenix’s promise was. “I said a Covenant oath.”

The prince shrank back. Hangdog laughed cruelly. “Oh, the wee princeling’s afraid of cutting an oath, then?”

Pa shot Hangdog a dark look. “No harm in it, lad. I’m the chief. You’ll bind it with me.” When Jasimir didn’t move, Pa slowly drew out a jagged stump of a sword from under his robes. Some long-past battle had sheared the blade in half, leaving a length of steel no longer than Pa’s forearm, but its broken point still gleamed wickedly as Pa jabbed it into his palm.

He held up his hand, showing a small, bloody gash. “Naught to it, see?”

“Tav…” Jasimir’s voice had withered like a raisin. Fie knew that fear, the trap of a road that only went two bad ways.

“Isn’t his word good enough?” Tavin slid between Pa and the prince. A line in his brow said the casual façade was like to split a seam.

“No,” Fie answered, cold. Tavin’s diplomacy caved as he frowned at her. She scowled back. “What’s the matter? Afraid your king-to-be might have to keep his deal this time?”

Prince Jasimir flinched and shook his head. “I … Fine. You’re right.”

“Jas—” Tavin put a hand on the prince’s shoulder.

“A king doesn’t get to make empty promises. This is just a formality.” Jasimir shrugged him off, walked over to Pa, and grasped the sword’s broken end. His fingers came away bloody.

He and Pa clasped hands. The air round them fried with a cold heat, like the moments before a lightning strike. The ring of torches burned higher, washing the roadside in red light.

“In flesh and blood do I make this oath,” Pa said. “Me and mine will see you safe to your allies, prince. To the Covenant I swear, may my soul not rest until it be done.”

“In flesh and blood do I make this oath,” echoed Jasimir. “As king, I will ensure the Crow caste’s protection as payment for their service to me now. To the Covenant I swear it.”

A breeze stirred Fie’s hair, dragging the torch-flames sideways. The very ground seemed to hum beneath her toes.

Pa still held steady. “By the Covenant, we bind this oath. I swear to keep it in this life and, if I fail, the next.”

The wind only grew stronger.

“With the Covenant as witness, this oath shall be kept.” Jasimir’s voice was louder now. “In this life or the next.”

Firelight seemed to catch round their joined hands a moment, flaring brighter as it wove through knuckle and skin.

There was a brief, furious blaze of light, and then it was done.

The Covenant had heard them, Pa and the prince and even Fie.