Did she think this ritual was savage? Did she want Markings, or were they just a necessity to get the location of the Still Blue? He hadn’t had the chance to ask earlier, and now it was too late. He couldn’t tell how she felt. With the cedar and smoke and hundreds of people, her scent was lost to him.

Perry handed the knife to Roar, who gave the blade a quick, showy twirl before he swore his own oath, recognizing Aria as an Audile. As one of his own. “May sounds guide you home,” he finished, adding his blood to the pot.

The tattoo ink would be added next. When Aria received her Markings, she’d receive part of him and Roar as well, their blood sealing their promises to shelter and protect her should she ever be in need. The ceremony would end with him and Roar making that oath to her. Perry couldn’t wait. He already felt that way, and he wanted her to know.

“Bear will do the Markings now,” he said. For years it had been Mila’s role. His sister-in-law had done the falcon on his back and both of his Markings—Scire and Seer. Molly was his next choice, but her hands were bothering her. The only other person left who’d ever done them was Bear.

Perry stood a moment longer, fighting the urge to kiss Aria’s cheek. Much as he wanted to be open about them to the tribe, a show of his feelings seemed wrong now. With a final glance at the flawless skin along her arms, he headed for the head table at the rear of the hall. The Markings would take hours, and he didn’t want to hover. Getting inked wasn’t terrible, but he knew any discomfort she felt would pain him.

He took Vale’s old seat at the head table on a platform at the end of the hall. With Roar and Cinder at his sides and the Six filling in around them, he felt too much like the Blood Lord his brother had been, one for ceremony and appearances. But tonight was for ceremony.

Across the table, a stringy-haired man smiled, showing more gaps than teeth. “Well, well … what a sight you are, Peregrine.”

The trader, who’d arrived earlier in the afternoon, came around every spring selling trinkets. Coins, spoons, rings, and bangles hung from his necklaces and coat, messy as seaweed. They had to weigh as much as he did. But the goods were just a cover for his real trade—gossip.

Perry nodded. “Shade.” With the Marking underway and time to kill, this was a good opportunity to learn news before he left with Aria tomorrow morning.