Chapter 5: The Offer

On the eighth night we camped on the last shelf of the pass, where the wind came straight off the snow.

Maud's brass key hung inside my shirt on a bootlace, and I had touched it every night since the inn.

I had not found one reason why I should be sorry for her.

Her wagon stayed shut, and her driver said she was sleeping.

Rafe called the captains to the big fire after supper.

He called me too, by sending the youngest driver down the line with the message.

I went because Nessa said that not going would give him a story to tell later.

Seven captains sat on the benches, and a dozen of the pack stood behind them.

Clara sat at Rafe's elbow with a shawl over her knees.

Joss leaned against a wagon at the edge of the light, with his arms folded.

"Ivy," Rafe said. "Sit."

"I'll stand."

He looked at me for a moment and nodded.

"Then I'll say it standing."

He rose and faced the benches.

"My mate means to dissolve the bond at the Hall," he said.

"I won't pretend it came from nowhere. I've been careless with her this autumn."

A captain shifted on his bench.

It was the first time I had ever heard Rafe call himself careless in front of anyone.

"So here is what I offer," he said, and he turned to me.

"Keep my mark. You'll have the house at the hold in your own name, and the granary books under your seal."

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