Chapter 15

Mara's POV

The Winter Oath Hall looked smaller without six hundred people inside it.

Four days ago, I had stood beneath the stained glass and watched my marriage become a public execution. Tonight, Gideon waited beside the same dais with Darius near the archive door and the Unbound registry tucked under one arm.

My old throne was empty. I didn't miss it. I knew this hall from beneath its stones as well as I ever had from the Luna’s seat. I had reopened the grain tunnel we used to return tonight. Gideon had dismissed cellar repairs as beneath him. I had never been more grateful for his blind spots.

"Five minutes," I said. "Then Ronan comes through the door whether you invite him or not."

Gideon's jaw tightened. "You trust him very quickly."

"I trusted y