Page 307 of Salt Between the Wolves

"You're awake."

Eira tried to answer, but her throat felt raw. Before she could make a second attempt, Varda had already crossed the room with a cup in her hands.

"Slowly."

The healer helped her sit upright and held the cup while she drank. The water tasted faintly of mint and something more bitter beneath it.

As warmth spread through her throat, memory began returning in clearer pieces. She remembered White Pass, the confrontation with her father, Soren's voice, and the pain that had torn through the mark before everything dissolved into confusion and darkness.

Her hand moved instinctively beneath the blankets until her fingers found the place where the mark rested beneath the linen at her collarbone. The skin remained tender, but the unbearable heat was gone.

Varda noticed immediately.

"It has settled."

Eira left her hand where it was.

"For now?"

"For now," Varda said.

The honesty of the answer told her more than reassurance would have.

She turned toward the window, where night pressed against the glass and the mountains beyond had disappeared into darkness.

"How long?"

"You've been in and out of consciousness for five days."

Eira looked back at her.

"Five?"

"You woke several times during the journey, but rarely for more than a few minutes."

A vague memory surfaced of someone holding her upright in the saddle while snow stung her face.

"I remember pieces."

"I'm not surprised. The bond exhausted you more severely than I expected."

Eira absorbed that in silence before asking the question that mattered.

"What happened?"

Varda's expression tightened slightly.

"How much do you remember?"

"White Pass."

The healer nodded.

"Then you remember enough."

Eira waited.

"Lord Soren challenged your father under the Law of Yielding, and the challenge was accepted."