“Liv. Liv, wake up.”The familiar voice reached Liv from somewhere deep inside her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Kaedric bending over the bed.For a moment, she only stared at him. The room was still dark, and Astrid was sleeping beside her with one hand tucked beneath her cheek. Kaedric looked tired. Dust covered the lower part of his cloak, and his hair had been disturbed by wind.“Sorry I woke you,” he whispered. “I am back.”Liv sat up so quickly that the blanket fell from her shoulders.“Where did you go?” she demanded. “You disappeared without telling me a damned thing!”Kaedric glanced at Astrid. “Keep your voice down.”“Do not tell me to keep my voice down. I woke up and you were gone. Nobody could tell me where you went.” Liv climbed out of the bed and stood in front of him. “I know now. Your dragon told me you went to Valhalla, but you did not tell me. The beast had more respect for me than you did.”Kaedric opened his mouth, but Liv did not give him a chance to

Kaedric slowed as he approached the old man.He looked around for a guard who might explain who the stranger was, but none stood nearby. The man’s robe was worn at the edges, and one sleeve had been repaired with thread that did not match. Yet he held himself like someone who had once given orders and expected them to be obeyed.Kaedric did not like it.People had been walking into the Ashkim chambers too freely since his return. With Liv and Astrid living here, that needed to end.“Lord Kaedric,” the old man greeted. His voice was sharper and stronger than his bent body suggested.Kaedric stopped several steps away. “Who are you?”“A man who served this house for more than thirty years. There are matters I believe you and I should discuss.”“Then speak with one of my men. If the matter truly needs me, they will bring it to me.”Kaedric walked past him.“Did you know what the Lawspeaker did to your woman today?”Kaedric’s steps did not stop, but his attention sharpened.The old man tu

Kaedric stopped several steps away from Solveig.“What happened?”“Vargr’s father is alive.”Kaedric stared at her.Solveig hurried on before he could interrupt. “He has been coming here dressed as a beggar because Vargr refuses to see him. Vargr attacked him inside the chambers today and had him thrown out. They have not spoken properly in twenty years, and we need to bring them together before the man dies.”Kaedric waited.Solveig looked at him expectantly.“That is the emergency?” he asked.“Yes.”“The emergency is that Vargr does not wish to speak with someone who claims to be his father.”“He does not only claim it. He showed me his Law-Seal. They share the same mark, and he showed me memory glass from when Vargr was a child. He even knows how Vargr behaves when—”Kaedric raised one hand. “Pause.”Solveig closed her mouth.“How did you enter this man’s house?”“He took me there.”“You allowed a stranger who entered my home disguised as a beggar to take you to an unknown place?”