Raisa smiled up at him. “I never expected to be the first of us to marry,” she said.

“Me neither,” Amon said, managing to smile back. He took a breath. “I wish you every blessing in your marriage, Rai. And blessings on your children, too.”

“Please share our hearth and all that we have,” Willo Watersong said. Though most of the hearths at Marisa Pines had been broken and despoiled by Arden’s army, Willo’s people had returned to their ancestral home, and were beginning to rebuild.

Willo embraced Han, Dancer, and Bird in turn, and brought her fist to her chest in salute to Raisa. “Welcome to our hearth, Hunts Alone, Fire Dancer, Night Bird, and Briar Rose,” she said. “Please share all that we have.”

“Welcome, granddaughter,” Elena Cennestre said, folding Raisa into her arms. “Though our troubles are not over, we have much to celebrate.”

Han stood at the hearth, hands extended, shaking off the morning chill. Autumn had arrived in the high country. He wore clan garb—deerskin leggings and the coat Willo had made for him, his amulet out of sight. It wouldn’t win him any friends here. He kept his eye on the Demonai. His last interaction with Averill and Elena had been charged, to say the least.

For a long moment, Raisa rested her head against her grandmother’s shoulder, as if worrying that this might be the last time. Then she pulled away, turning to Averill.

He embraced her, too. “Briar Rose,” he murmured. “It is good to see you safe. We have had a difficult season.”

Beaded and braided, his Demonai talisman around his neck, his sturdy frame dressed for war, Averill Demonai looked fit and happy.

They thrive on this, Han thought. They’ve been fighting for so long, it’s in their blood and sinew. Will they ever be able to stop?

“Is Nightwalker here?” Raisa asked.

Averill smiled. “Eager to see him, are you? We expect him at any time. We sent word up to the pass, where the Demonai are encouraging the flatlanders to keep going south.”

Averill finally recognized the presence of the others, nodding curtly to Han, Dancer, and Bird. “Hunts Alone, Fire Dancer, Night Bird. You have done good work, driving out the southerners.” But the face he turned to Han was hard and wary.

I didn’t do it for you, Han thought. He crossed the common room to Raisa, sliding his arm around her and drawing her close. Bird and Dancer stepped in on either side of them. A streetlord challenge.

Elena’s eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened, signaling disapproval.

“Grandmother, Father, we have something to tell you,” Raisa said.

Wolves moved in the shadows, just outside of the light from the hearth, wraiths with gleaming eyes and teeth.

Averill Lightfoot put up both hands as if to stop her words. “Briar Rose. No.”