Chapter 53

Ronan's POV

The First House courtyard was full of people who had come to watch someone else decide their future.

Some wore the coats of southern packs. Others had the plain black circle of the Custodians on their sleeves. They stood in small, separate groups around the open space, keeping their hands near their weapons. A child slept on a man's shoulder beside the outer wall. I wondered whether they had walked all this way because they believed Severin or because they feared what he might do if they refused.

At the far end, the mountain door stood behind Severin, open no wider than Gideon had described. There was room to reach through and nowhere for a body to follow.

Gideon stood at Severin's side. One cuff was dark with dried blood. The moonstone circled his other wrist, its broken clasp turned toward us. Mara saw it. Her express