Chapter 60

Mara's POV

Harlan had written his letter as though careful handwriting might make it hurt less. Frostmere's northern watch had lost contact with two villages during the hours after the First House opened. The roads were still passable, but nobody knew whether the old warning wards would hold when the seven days ended. Severin promised to keep them lit.

At the bottom, below his signature, Harlan had added: I told you my people needed a roof before a new law. I should have said how frightened they were.

I was angry enough to fold the page into a square and put it under a chair leg. He had sat beside us in Black Hollow, eaten our food, and joked about Severin's expensive stationery. Then his people had been afraid, and he had made the choice he thought would keep them safe. Knowing why did not stop the sting.

Ronan found me i