Chapter 116

Mara’s POV

Ilyra came out with a consent form in one hand and a strip of stained linen in the other. She had been working; her presence didn't mean the procedure was over. She sent the guard to keep the path clear and handed me the form.

“Ronan started the first stage against my advice,” she said. “No second stage has begun. If we interrupt the first carelessly, the charge may go into the southern posts.”

I read the list of losses in Darius’s narrow hand: Grimm, the Bridge, memory tied to the routes. He had written our bond beneath the last heading as though it were property Ronan could dispose of. Ilyra had crossed out the line that inferred my assent.

“Did he see your objection?” I asked.

“Yes. The captain heard me make it.”

I could hear the plate's low note through