Page 294 of Salt Between the Wolves

No one looked comfortable, and Eira could not blame them, since neither side had spent nine days standing in snow because they trusted one another.

As they approached, conversations faded and heads turned, while the same feeling followed her through the gathered warriors, an expectation not directed solely at her but at all of them, as though the entire pass had decided this day mattered, which, unfortunately, it did.

The meeting tent stood alone in the center of the valley, with neither Frostvein nor Ironfang banners flying above it, a deliberate choice that reflected someone's idea of diplomacy.

Eira stopped several paces away, and for the first time since arriving at White Pass, uncertainty brushed against her, not fear but something else, the simple awareness that some doors only opened once.

Soren noticed, of course he did.

"You can still walk away."

Eira turned toward him, and the words sounded familiar, though a day ago they would have irritated her, while now they did something worse by making her smile, small and brief, entirely against her will.

"I didn't come this far to hesitate now."

Something shifted in his expression, subtle and not quite recognition this time, but something closer to acceptance, a quiet understanding that this was no longer a question.

"Then don't."

"I won't."

For a moment he looked as though he wanted to say something else, something beyond strategy, beyond White Pass, beyond politics, but instead he only nodded, and the restraint hurt more than it should have, which Eira hated.

Then the tent flap opened, and everything else disappeared as Vargan stepped into the morning light.

For one impossible heartbeat, the years vanished, leaving not the Alpha of Frostvein, not the ruler, and not the man standing behind an army, but only her father, before the moment passed and reality returned.

Vargan's gaze settled on her, and although nothing in his expression changed, Eira felt the impact all the same, the old certainty, the old authority, and the part of him that had never doubted he knew the correct answer for either of them.

Neither moved as the pass seemed to hold its breath, while at her side Soren became very still and across the valley hundreds of eyes watched, waiting.

Eira met her father's gaze and took the first step forward. The distance between them closed quickly, almost too quickly, as a few steps carried Eira forward, though by the time she stopped it felt as though she had crossed years rather than yards.

For a moment neither spoke while Vargan studied her, not openly or rudely, but in the way he always had, as though every silence, every expression, and every hesitation contained information, and Eira hated that she still recognized it.

"You've been riding hard."

The observation caught her off guard, not because of the words themselves, but because of how ordinary they were, with no accusation, no anger, and no politics, just her father noticing that she looked tired, which made something tighten unexpectedly in her chest.

"I didn't come here to discuss my travel arrangements."

"No," Vargan replied, his gaze remaining steady. "You never did."

Silence settled between them while the tent behind him stood open and the warriors waiting nearby pretended not to listen, though none of them truly succeeded.

Eira folded her arms, partly against the cold but mostly because she needed something to do with her hands, and for the first time she became aware of Soren standing several paces behind her, not intervening or speaking, simply present, and the knowledge steadied her more than she wanted to admit.

Vargan noticed that too, as he always did, his gaze flickering briefly toward Soren before returning to her.

"You should have sent word."

There it was, the first mistake, not hers but his, hidden in the assumption within the sentence and the certainty that communication had been the problem rather than the choice itself, and Eira felt something inside her harden.

"I did."

A faint line appeared between Vargan's brows.

"I left."