Page 107 of Salt Between the Wolves

Aldric seemed to notice.

"Whatever happens next," he continued quietly, "that much isn't changing."

For a moment nobody spoke while the wind rattled softly against the windows and the fire crackled between them.

And for the first time since arriving at the estate, Eira began to understand why Maelin had trusted this man enough to build a life beside him.

Maelin

The house had fallen quiet by the time Eira retired for the night.

Lyra had finally been persuaded into bed after extracting promises from three different people that Eira would still be present in the morning, while Finn had disappeared hours earlier and even the servants had begun retreating into the softer rhythms of the evening, leaving only the fire awake in the silence that settled over the house.

Maelin found Aldric in his study.

The room looked much as it always did after one of his journeys. A travel bag rested unopened near the door, damp gloves lay discarded beside the hearth, and travel papers still covered much of the desk. He had not even begun unpacking, and the sight alone told her how seriously he considered the situation.

For a moment she remained in the doorway, watching him until Aldric finally looked up.

Neither of them spoke immediately, and although silence rarely felt uncomfortable after ten years together, tonight it carried a weight that neither of them could ignore.

"How much trouble are we in?" she asked.

The question earned a long sigh.

"More than I'd prefer."

Maelin crossed the room and lowered herself into the chair opposite him. The movement had become slower and less graceful over the past months, as the child she carried seemed determined to remind her of its existence every hour.

Aldric watched her settle before speaking again.

"You should be resting."

"You should be unpacking."

"Neither of us is getting what we want tonight."

A reluctant smile appeared and vanished just as quickly before silence settled between them once more, accompanied only by the soft brush of snow against the windows and the occasional shift of the fire in the hearth.

Eventually Aldric leaned back in his chair.

"She's thinner."

The observation caught Maelin by surprise.

"Who?"

His expression suggested the answer was obvious.

"Eira."

Something tightened inside her chest because he was right. The exhaustion showed less after food, sleep, and a day spent beside a fire, but it remained there all the same, a reminder that the mountains had taken their price and that grief had demanded its own as well.

"She crossed half the continent alone."

The words emerged more sharply than she intended.

Aldric nodded.