Page 232 of Fallen Nocturne

Rainer ordered the monument while he still had the strength to leave this room. It will honor the seadragons who gave their lives to save Völundr.

A healer returns some time later and checks his pulse. Rainer has already drifted into an uneasy sleep, his face turned toward the sea. I leave him in her care and step quietly into the corridor.

I see Blaire leaving the palace.

She moves with her head bowed and her hands folded before her. The Maiden of Arawynn has been spending most of her time at the temples since the war ended, seeking solace.

She notices me watching and nods politely.

I nod back.

I am grateful to her for what she did for Rhianelle during the war. She made herself a target and could have died. I owe her more than I’ve ever said.

Thank you, Blaire. For protecting her when I couldn’t. For being what she needed when I was failing.

Blaire starts to walk past me, but I notice something. A tattoo that catches the light. I’ve seen the water wyrm before.

It was a serpentine dragon that wrapped around her wrist. But it’s not on her wrist anymore. I look again and the tattoo has moved higher. It’s on her forearm now.

That’s... odd.

I remember that Blaire had gone to Astefar before the seal broke to save Rhianelle’s life. She never told us everything that happened there.

Perhaps something found her in that forest.

The things that live in Astefar don’t give help freely. They bargain. They mark. Did Blaire make some kind of bargain to obtain the cure after all? If she did, what did she promise the creatures there in return for saving Rhianelle?

“Blaire,” I call, turning after her.

I walk to the nearest archway and search the courtyard beyond, but she is nowhere among the guards and healers crossing the palace grounds. Somehow, she has already disappeared into the crowd.

I am about to follow Blaire when Rhianelle steps into the courtyard.

“There you are,” she says. “I was looking for you.”

I glance once more toward the empty archway. “Blaire was just here if you want to catch her.”

“That’s all right. I have plans with her tomorrow.” Rhianelle slips her hand into mine. “I want to visit Kiiska and Kae’ko this afternoon, but first I promised Shade I would help him communicate with Lucien.”

Lucien.

That is the wolf’s real name, though I am still getting used to it.

“At Shade’s new home?” I ask.

Rhianelle nods and leads me toward the western district.

Rainer gave most of his fortune to Rhianelle before the poison confined him to bed, but he reserved a considerable inheritance for Shade. He also granted him a small title and a house within Völundr, even though Shade was his brother’s bastard son.

A minor lord.

Shade, the Grimsbane assassin who spent most of his life hiding behind a demonic mask, is now technically part of Aelfheim’s nobility. I almost want to laugh.

It is stranger knowing he is Rhianelle’s half-brother. I suppose there was always something between them. Still, that revelation surprised me more than discovering that the wolf was a cursed elf.

Shade’s house stands near the rebuilt northern wall. It is larger than he needs, though most of the rooms remain nearly empty. There are no paintings, elaborate carpets, or useless ornaments. The furniture is plain and practical, as if he expects to abandon everything at a moment’s notice.

Several stacks of documents cover the table beside the entrance.