He sighed heavily. “Just be glad you weren’t there, Rai,” he said. “Gerard is a monster, but the royal family of Tamron isn’t much better. Those Tomlins spend most of their time plotting against each other. When all else fails, they resort to poison. During the siege, the entire city was starving, but King Markus hosted a feast every night inside the palace. He was furious when Queen Marianna wouldn’t send an army to drive off Montaigne—even though he’d lied to her. He threatened to kill off the Gray Wolves, one each day, ending with me, if the Fells didn’t respond.”

Raisa’s mouth went dry. “What? How could he possibly blame you if…?”

“Don’t try to apply logic to what he does,” Amon said. After a thick pause, he added, “Wode Mara was the first.”

Raisa stiffened and sat upright. “Wode? He’s…he’s dead?”

Amon nodded, twisting the gold wolf ring on his finger. “And don’t ask me how he died, because I’m not going to tell you.”

Wode was a red-haired cadet, with a broad, pleasant, perpetually sunburned face. He had a girl back in Chalk Cliffs, and was saving up to marry her.

“That’s not possible,” Raisa whispered.

“I thought I would have to kill Markus myself, but Liam Tomlin beat me to it. He and his sister poisoned him.”

“Liam? Poisoned his father?” Raisa recalled Liam and his sister, the Princess Marina, at her name day party—both tall, graceful charmers, with soft curls and strong noses. And a way with poison, apparently.

I’m not ready to be queen, Raisa thought, shuddering. I’m not ready to go up against all these ruthless people. I’m not ready to play this high-stakes game as ruler of the Fells.

“Liam was crowned king, but he didn’t get to enjoy it for very long,” Amon said. “Montaigne breached the walls two days later. And after that…after that it was a massacre.” Amon closed his eyes, the lashes dark against his pale cheeks.

“How did you get away?” Raisa asked. “And—and what about the rest of the Gray Wolves?”

“Tamron is soft, and the Ardenines know it,” Amon said. “They aren’t used to fighting for their lives. The Ardenines were focused on two things—capturing you and the Tomlins, and stealing everything that wasn’t bolted down. They slaughtered everyone who got in the way.” Amon passed his hand over his face as if to wipe the memory away.

“So we each killed an Ardenine soldier of the right size, and stole the uniforms. We’ve all been to the academy; we speak the language well enough to pass. We sieved through the lines while they were otherwise occupied. We went northeast to Swansea because we knew the roads to Fetters Ford and Oden’s Ford would be closely watched.