Page 213 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

Voryan had slipped off the night before without a word of goodbye to anyone, as he usually did. Only Wyn was irritated at his manners, but the Lord of the Moor had never given much ofa damn for etiquette or receiving thanks, and he clearly wasn’t going to start now.

I was grateful, nonetheless, that he’d joined us.

Wroth remained, having vowed to see us to Ravenscry before he returned home.

“It’s a respite,” he grumbled. He often walked near Cirri’s wagon, close enough that it was obvious he was watching over her, just far away enough to maintain plausible deniability.

It took over a day to cross the mountains; we could have cut the time in half by taking the route under the mountains, but I took Visca, Wyn, and Wroth aside, telling them of what I’d scented while tracking my woman.

No one was happy about it; we all agreed that with the wargs gone, it would soon be time to cast our eyes downward once more, and continue what we’d begun when our kind first went Below.

But not now, at this very moment. The Fae-things below would wait, and it was unanimously decided that no one was to take the under-mountain route again.

When the wagon finally descended onto Rift soil and the ground leveled out, I helped Cirri out of the wagon. She had healed enough to walk and stretch her legs again. Two of the legions broke off and headed south, delivering the news to every village and town in the Rift.

Ravenscry was quiet when we arrived outside the gates. I looked up at them, remembering how fractured I had felt when I last left… and now I felt that I was returning whole.

Cirri leaned on my arm as the guards opened the gates, her eyes fixed on the towers.

The first time I ever came here… I was terrified. I felt like I was in a fairy tale, but the kind where everyone gets eaten in the end. She looked up at me ruefully, then sighed.And nowit’s home. I never expected that. At times I still don’t feel that I deserve it.

“Deserving has nothing to do with it. It’s yours, and you’ll stay by me for an eternity, of course. As the Lord of the Rift, I demand it.”

Of course, she said, glancing at me sidelong under her lashes.And the Lady gets no say?

“The Lady won’t want to argue with my decrees, because she’s going to be very, very busy as my new Scrollkeeper.”

Cirri went still.I thought… I would only be working on the translations. I thought perhaps you wanted to find someone else…

“Who else?” I asked, pulling her aside. I led under a vast pine, into a clearing where the mist hid us from view. “Who else has made the effort to become fluent in six languages? Who else deciphered enough of the High Tongue to use a charm that old?”

She stared up at me, face pale, hands knotted at her sides.

“Who else?” I asked again. “There is no one else. I’m notgivingyou the position, Cirri. You earned it yourself.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and closed her eyes for a moment.

That was everything I worked for, she said.That’s my dream. After we married, and I thought the Silver Library was lost to me… I didn’t want to exist just to be a figurehead. I need todosomething with my life.

“You will. You’ve done a great thing, and you’ll do more. And I know you’ll do it credit.” I held her, and she melted against me, hiding her face. I felt the heat of tears on my chest, but she wiped them away, smiling. “Now, let me hear you say it.”

Cirri looked up, eyes wide.

“That you earned it,” I clarified.

She swallowed, and raised her hands.I earned it.

The first movements were tentative, and then she raised her chin, eyes flashing.I did. I earned it myself. And I will make something of it.

“You did,” I murmured, stroking her hair. “Never believe otherwise.”

It’s going to take centuries to study it all, she said, laughing.I want to start now.

“My lovely one, I know you eat, sleep, and breathe books, but no. I don’t think you’ll die if you have to wait until tomorrow.”

Yes, I will, she said, still grinning, but the smile fell away by degrees, and she became serious.Bane, there’s things I need to look at. Things I need to research. The reason the wargs came back, and why… why fiends are like them. I had a theory, and I’ve vindicated it, I believe, but I need to look for myself.

“What theory is this?” I asked, frowning.

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