kettle and three blankets. Edda's arm was cleaned and bandaged. The wolves stood guard in shifts around the

in the dark, listen

never I held them out. I tried to count the cost. My hearing felt dull. My balance was bad. I had lost my breath at the

he blankets, so I leaned over to pull them back, and his coat slid from the chai

ellow paper, sealed with red wax

ong time, looking at the careful, old handwriting on the outside, and I told myself t

ened

king mistakes. At the top, in a flourish: The Report of the Seers of the Winter Court, concer

My eyes caugh

ned their hands on touching it. It holds the power of an ice dragon of the first b

at Alpha, and that their union will bind the

ng, with respect, to keep

hand, a hasty scrawl pr

ot break. It glowed through the waves for a full minute, then sank slowly. I believ

went ve

my fingers. There were three sentences on that page that I would carry for the rest

gg wa

I had been thrown into the sea by someone who wanted me dead, and that a man named Halvard had seen me survive a

," said a voic

ing for him to wake, in some stran

ace drawn, his eyes steady. He did n

ad it,"

es

of

shaking, but my voice wasn't. "Your father was there that n

r in his study, three days after he died. He had hidden it behind a false

did

Tay disappeared eleven years ago. My father swore to the Crown, to the old King and to Queen Ilvane after,

ecting s

ve not told anyone. If the Queen learns that an Alpha of the Northern Grey knew the heir had lived and hi

d m

strength of an ice dragon. It says the child would be a mate to a great Alpha. Five minutes ago, yo

The wind scratch

cups. You pulled a river up by the throat. You have a snowflake on your collarbone, which I ha

said I am

en't den

aven't

hen he let out a breath that was ha

child who sho

of Lights, saying names are dangerous. I thought of twelve riders in gray cloaks,

ld like to hear what your fath

r a very long time. The

into Orrenhall together, you will say nothing

uld I tr

," said Bram Halvard, "and you are the first p

him t

too bright for dawn. It was the lights of a great city, so far away that it l