Chapter 21: Duncan's POV: The Edge of the Circle

Duncan's POV

I got to the Stone an hour before moonrise, and I did not go in.

The ring of dry leaves lay in front of me, perfectly round.

Morven had said come into the circle.

I had also promised her I would stand wherever she told me to stand.

I stayed where I was, on the path, with my boots at the very edge of the leaves.

It was cold enough that my breath smoked.

I had spent the day sending the Gathering's judgment to Highmoor by Crown courier from the post office in town.

I had changed my shirt twice since.

I had not eaten.

My hands were in my pockets again.

In my right coat pocket were three small things wrapped in a handkerchief.

I had carried them for seven years, and I had never shown them to anyone.

"You're early," said a voice behind me.

I turned.

Tobin Ainsley stood on the path with his satchel on his shoulder and a thermos under his arm.

He was a thin, freckled man, and he looked at me with the flat eyes of someone who has made up his mind.

"The Alpha's still at her cabin," he said. "She'll be here when the moon clears the ridge."

"She's been changing her shirt, too."

"How do you know that?"

"She asked me which one." He unscrewed the thermos and poured something steaming into the cap.

"I told her to wear the blue."

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