ia'

t did not

ng meant attention, and attention meant pain. So I followed without a word, mat

b of steaming water. The scent hit m

end

s cart passed through the pack grounds and I caught a whiff of soap

as dif

was f

an said. "I will p

to my collar

ctly. Something quieter. Recognition, maybe. Like

she said, her voice steady and unhurried. "I do not

d turned my

my skin. The silver chain was cold and familiar, the only anchor

id out a white gown on the bed

ac

d ever looked at me and thought she might need a moment. They only looke

ed into

, and I gasped. Not

m w

elbows that never healed because the cold never let them. My muscles loosened one by o

ngle, fragile moment-

remem

ight, I would belong to a stranger. And th

me into the gow

e. S

ers of silk and lace that probably cost more than

t was

t was

that was not a hand-me-down, n

w strokes. No questions about my face. No que

ready,"

d in th

g had

wn hair that looked dead and dry even after being was

and merciless, showing the world

necklace benea

more

ays until my tw

teen years. What w

g when I woke up. I told myself

ys. Just tw

etting married

emony w

br

rthought, like no one had cared enough to make it beautiful. Stone walls. Torches burnin

en's wolves-Shadowfang warriors, pack members, people who would be l

rying to solve. Like something they could

ed what

The cursed child who

nding here in a white gown that did not smell like g

stood b

e stood the way a man stands at the edge of a cliff-perfectl

thing about the Moon Goddess. About duty

ecognize. A sacred flame burned in a stone bowl between us, castin

in front of me so no o

d-back to the kitchen, to the pots, to the smell of greas

f gray water an

married to a man whose voice I had heard may

n's hand b

gertips against the back of my

h struck in

d, a ghost of warmth on skin that had

accident. I did not dare l

roned on, but I was

e last time I saw her face-streaked with ash, red-eyed,

ld have

have been the one to dress me. The one to brush my hair. The one to whisper, You

, I was

alw

. I did not let the tears fall. I would not give this hall, th

aid the words th

ilver coins will be transferred to th

d thousand

mach d

e away. For handing over the girl they had starv

ed me a warm meal without making me scrub for it first, and never onc

lives

ing sold

those long, pale fingers and smile. She would call it compen

it to

usand, two hun

price on me and c

The hall went quiet-every wolf, every torch, every hel

accept t