Page 58 of Salt Between the Wolves

"It won't."

The room fell silent again before Kael added in a quieter voice,

"She isn't safe here."

The danger no longer came from Frostvein alone.

That threat could be fought, tracked, and eventually destroyed.

The others were far more difficult to confront.

Rumors, suspicion, and fear spread faster than any enemy and reached places no warrior could defend.

Soren stared toward the western mountains.

Beyond those passes lived old allies, remote settlements, and families whose loyalty to Ironfang had never wavered. They were places far enough away that few would think to search for her and isolated enough that she could disappear completely.

For a long time he remained silent before finally speaking.

"Find somewhere beyond the western passes."

Kael remained quiet, listening.

"Somewhere loyal."

Soren's gaze never left the mountains.

"Somewhere Frostvein won't reach."

After a brief pause, Kael asked,

"And if she refuses?"

A faint smile touched Soren's mouth, brief and entirely without humor.

"She will."

The answer came immediately.

Eira would argue, demand answers, and refuse to be ordered anywhere without a fight. The certainty of that should have been reassuring, yet instead it left an unpleasant weight in his chest.

Lately she hadn't argued.

She hadn't demanded anything.

In truth, she had barely spoken to him at all.

Kael studied him for a moment before asking the question neither of them had voiced during the council meeting.

"Are you doing this for Ironfang?"

Soren looked out at the mountains.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation, and neither man spoke after that because both understood exactly what he meant.

When he finally rose from his chair, the chamber had grown noticeably darker.