Xeon hadn't stopped growling since they left the tower.

  As soon as Fin entered the hall, all the whispers stopped.

  Riven sat by the hearth, flanked by advisors, posture crisp. He looked every inch the young tyrant trying desperately to project an old one.

  Fin settled into a chair. Colonel Sterling stood along the wall behind him, one shoulder against the stone, arms folded, watching everything with the relaxed attention of a man who'd already decided how the room would end.

  Riven cleared his throat, forcing civility as he reached for the whiskey.

  "Drink?"

  "Please."

  Riven poured two glasses. Fin accepted his, nodding as though they were old friends instead of predators measuring distance.

  "We'll speak plainly," Fin said.

  Riven smiled thinly. "Plainly works for me, Shadowclaw. Say what you came to say."

  Fin leaned back, whiskey in hand, perfectly at ease in a room that hated him.

  "Here are the facts," he said. "You're bled thin. Your borders leak like a gutted boar. Your enemies are circling, and they've learned patience. They don't need to break you. They just need you to keep bleeding. And you believe a wedding will stop that bleeding."

  Riven's fingers tightened on his glass, but his voice stayed level. "You need this alliance too. Shadowclaw fights on every front."

  "You're right. I do need an alliance. I do not need you."

  Xeon: Oh, he hated that. Say it again. Slower this time.

  Fin kept his face neutral.

  "You need our territory," Riven countered.

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  "I need stability in the west. You need time," Fin said, voice calm.

  "Then we have agreement."

  "Not yet."

  It took a second for that to sink in. Riven blinked. "What else could you want?"

  "There's one additional term. Nonnegotiable."

  "And that is?"

  "I'll take your sister. And I'll take the girl in the east tower."

  Nobody moved or breathed.

  "How do you know about her?" Riven growled.

  "I make it my business, to know what's inside the walls of any kingdom I negotiate with."

  Riven's eyes darkened. "Nova is not a matter for negotiation. You say her name like it belongs here. It doesn't."

  Xeon lunged, trying to surface.

  Xeon: Bite him. Just once. A small bite. He won't even miss the finger.

  Fin took a slow sip of whiskey and kept his face still. "On the contrary, her name belongs exactly here."

  Riven studied him for a moment too long, then the mask slipped. "You overreach, Shadowclaw. You walk into my keep and dictate terms?"

  He laughed and shook his head.

  "No. You'll take the alliance as offered and you'll leave the tower girl out of this. She's insignificant."

  Fin lifted his glass, his voice low. "If she were nothing, you wouldn't keep her locked in a tower. And you wouldn't care this much that I've seen her. So let's not insult each other with lies."

  "So that's it," Riven snapped. "You wake me in the night because you found her and decided you want her. And now you think you can claim what's mine?"

  For a fraction of a second, panic flickered behind Riven's eyes. He recovered.

  "You misunderstand," he said quickly. "She's my bastard half-sister. A lapse of my father's. My mother kept her out of pity."

  "Pity," Fin repeated.

  "She isn't right," Riven continued. "Illiterate. Disobedient. She has fits. Visions. We keep her locked away for safety."

  Fin studied him. "If she were broken, you'd use her."

  He swirled the whiskey. Let the silence stretch.

  "But you don't. You hide her."

  "Which means she has value."

  He set the glass down.

  "And that's why she's part of the deal."

  Velora rose smoothly. "Alpha Shadowclaw, allow me to clarify."

  Riven glared. She ignored him.

  Xeon: Ah. Mommy's taking over. Fascinating.

  "The girl is a remnant of a shameful chapter, unfit for service or court, a liability Ashbane contains discreetly. Surely you won't endanger an alliance over someone without worth."

  Fin did not move.

  Riven slammed his glass down. "You want her as your mistress. I won't allow it. You won't insult Meredith that way."

  Fin turned his head slightly.

  "A mistress." He looked at Riven the way one looks at a child who has said something embarrassing at dinner. "No. That's not how I operate."

  Velora raised a hand. "Enough."

  She regarded Fin coolly. "If you insist, we won't obstruct. She leaves temporarily. Lowest omega rank. No privileges. She serves Meredith."

  "These terms are nonnegotiable."

  Fin considered them for a moment.

  Then he inclined his head once.

  "Done."

  Riven stared. "Done?"

  "You wanted an alliance," Fin said. "You have it. She leaves with me before dawn."