Page 56 of Salt Between the Wolves

"The situation."

Something cold settled in Soren's chest.

"The situation."

"Don't do that."

Varek's voice remained calm.

"We're not discussing Eira herself."

The fact that he felt compelled to say it only made things worse.

"Then who are you discussing?"

No one answered immediately, and the silence served as an answer of its own.

Soren leaned back in his chair, and for the first time since entering the room, genuine anger stirred beneath his composure—not because they blamed her, but because they had reduced her to a problem waiting to be solved, a complication, a risk, and a subject to be debated around a table while she remained elsewhere in the fortress, unaware of any of it.

"The attacks began before she arrived."

No one disagreed.

"Frostvein would still want Ironfang weakened if she vanished tomorrow."

Again, no one disagreed.

"The rumors are nonsense."

"They are," Harlan agreed.

The answer came too quickly and too easily, causing Soren's jaw to tighten because everyone at the table understood the contradiction. The rumors were nonsense, yet the fear was real, and fear rarely cared about truth.

Varek folded his hands.

"Then what do you intend to do?"

The question settled heavily across the room, not as a hostile challenge but as something impossible to avoid.

And Soren found himself without an answer.

The silence stretched long enough for discomfort to appear and long enough for everyone present to notice, because the truth was painfully simple: he didn't know how to stop the rumors, he didn't know how to stop Frostvein, he didn't know how to repair what had been broken since Riven's death, and he certainly didn't know how to protect Eira from all of it.

Across the table, Harlan lowered his gaze, Varek looked away first, and even Kael remained silent.

No one pressed further because no one needed to; the absence of an answer spoke loudly enough on its own.

The council chamber emptied slowly as chairs scraped against stone, reports were gathered and stacked, and a few final observations were exchanged in low voices before Harlan and Varek eventually departed, leaving the door to close behind them with a muted thud.

A heavy silence settled over the room, and for a time neither Soren nor Kael moved from their seats.

The maps remained spread across the table between them while, beyond the windows, the afternoon gradually slipped toward evening.

Soren gathered several reports into a neat stack and pushed them aside. Although the meeting had ended, the problem itself remained unresolved.

Eventually Kael leaned back in his chair.

"They're wrong about her."