Second of Frostfall, Year 1413 AGC

"I still can't believe there's so many buildin's in one place," Adela said, staring at the row houses with wide-eyed wonder.

Everna chuckled. "Pendel's one of the larger towns, for sure, but it's still nothing compared to the capital."

Windmore's arrest brought with it a return to normalcy. Pala and her mother's efforts, coupled with Corden's ongoing purge of the Guard, ensured most of Shroud's infiltrators and double agents found a place within the town's jail. The executions had gone on for nearly nine days now; every hour or two, a cart carrying the next victims of the noose trundled out the west gate. Despite the dozens of headstones added to the graveyard, much of the tension that had gripped the town gave way to renewed excitement as the preparations for the Harvest Festival resumed.

Shroud was still very much a concern, but with the loss of one of their key agents, they had little choice but to retreat into the shadows.

The improvements ended there. Her situation with the Courts, to no one's surprise, remained unchanged. Windmore's arrest and the Guard's infiltration weren't enough to convince them of her innocence; they insisted her involvement remained an undeniable possibility. Frustrating as it was, she expected as much. They still had no viable explanation for why someone would name her the culprit before the assassination took place.

Wil suspected it was a distraction, though Everna believed that Shroud meant to incriminate her further. For all the Courts knew, it could've been a legitimate accusation or a warning. They would not consider any other circumstance without tangible evidence to the contrary. Until they uncovered the source, she'd remain a suspect.

And no one had a clue where to begin with that matter.

"What's a capital?" Adela asked, pointing to the shopping list clutched in her hands. "You mean the big letters like the ones you told me about the other day?"

As expected, her parents didn't hesitate to take Dain and Adela in after they learned of what Shroud had done in Windhollow. They'd put them in one of the guest rooms downstairs, though Everna suspected once Corden moved his belongings into his own home, as both he and Leah were staying at the tavern for the moment, they'd take his room. Or Adela would, at the very least.

Windhollow still weighed heavily on Dain's mind, and almost immediately after arriving in town, he begged Corden to allow him to join the Guard. Adela was all he had left, and though it was Shroud that destroyed his home, he blamed himself for what happened to her. He couldn't get her out of the way fast enough, and he'd be damned if he'd let it happen again.

Adela wanted to enlist as well, but she was still much too young. It would be another eight years before she could, as sixteen was the minimum age of enlistment. Everna suspected, by that time, she'd lose interest; she only wanted to enlist because her brother had.

Instead, Adela took up the role Everna had when she was her age, albeit with more difficulty. Neither she nor Dain knew how to read, a common plight in the Wildlands, as her parents said. They had little use for it in those parts, as most settlements focused on survival, not education. Knowing how to grow crops and hunt game was more important than reading trashy novels.

"Uh, no. That's a capital letter. I'm talking about a capital city," Everna said, peering down at the list. Even if Adela couldn't read it, she insisted upon carrying it, as it was her job. "Inverness has several towns and cities, but there's one that's much larger than the rest. That's where the royal family lives and where the government is. It makes Pendel look like a tiny village."

Beside her, Wil snorted. "Inversa's a village compared to some cities in the region. Alund has one city that takes up most of the kingdom, and even it's small compared to some of the western ports. Port Salryn's three times the size of Alund."

While Shroud had retreated for the moment, neither her parents nor Shadowguard relented in their insistence that someone accompany her whenever she left the tavern. Their absence didn't negate the need to track down their leader, whom Osain firmly believed hadn't left town. That necessity demanded Lisette and the others return to their duties, and Leah had her hands full assisting Corden with the interrogations and setting up a small clergy in Pendel. Wil was the only option and one her father disapproved of — even if he was far more tolerant of Wil than he would be otherwise.

Not that he had a choice; it was her mother's decision and there was no arguing with her.

Everna didn't mind. She'd grown accustomed to him hovering about, though with his hood pulled low over his face, he stood out a bit too much. Still, it was better than the alternative. As soon as people realized what they were looking at — and who, as word of a prince in town had spread quickly — it drew even more attention.

Mostly from women. Not that she cared. Because she didn't. Not at all.

Adela turned to look at him, her head tilted and her eyes squinted as she leaned forward, peering under the hood. "Can you even see with that thing over your face?"

"Yes," Wil said, as if it were the most obvious answer.

Adela hummed, unconvinced. "You know what you look like? Them shady folk Ma used to tell us about. One of them people who sell stuff in the back of the barn on the sly, you know? You got hackweed under that cloak?"

Everna barely stifled her laughter. "He looks a bit like a scoundrel, doesn't it? The night he showed up in the tavern, I thought he was going to snatch my coin purse."

Wil turned to her, a single green eye peaking out from beneath the shadow of his hood. "With the look you gave me, I have a feeling that's not at all what you thought."

"You're right. I was debating whether to have the Guard remove you for leering at me.”

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the street, muttering under his breath.

The markets were decidedly barren for the time of year. The unprecedented winter brought with it more than numbing cold; Pendel lost much of the fall harvest beneath the feet of snow that had fallen, and many of the connecting roads were impassible. The mid-autumn caravans had yet to arrive and Everna suspected the town would have little left when they finally reached the gates. This year's Harvest Festival would be scarce, if the townsfolk hadn't prepared ahead.

Everna glanced at the list, then at the few open stalls. Much of what her parents wanted wasn't available. Most berries, save for the now out of season sun berries, had to be imported from the northern portions of the kingdom, where the weather was cooler year round. Flour was a lost cause; most of the wheat withered during the first snowfall. The dwarves had yet to deliver the salts from their mines in the mountains. Milk, eggs, and oddly enough, sugar seemed to be the only things in plentiful stock.

"It's going to be a long and hard winter this year," Everna sighed.

"It'll be worse up north," Wil agreed. "Last I heard, Everna's buried — literally."

"I'm perfectly unburied, thank you," she said.

Wil rolled his eyes. "I meant the city. The snow's piled halfway up the walls, the reports say. It's not a normal winter."

"Anything to do with what's going on in the kingdom lately?"

"Would not surprise me," he said. "Sh— You know who has ways. Blocking the roads disrupts communications and only Shadowguard has the means of immediate contact here. There was another incident in Rosemere a week ago that we just received word of."

"Same circumstances?" Everna asked.

"Similar, but it failed. They targeted Sir Wolfsbane, but he was prepared for it. After what happened here, the knights are on high alert."

"Then why is Pendel so important?"

"I don't think it's Pendel that's important. It's you. We still don't know why, but from the information we've been getting lately, it looks like the mayor wasn't the target, but the excuse."

"That can't be. If they wanted me gone that badly, why didn't they just—"

A tug at her skirt stopped her short. Adela had one hand clutched onto her apron, the other pointing at a stall near the edge of the market square. Trays of gleaming apples with wooden sticks embedded into the tops lined the stand. She immediately recognized the treat; they were a rarity that only appeared in the days leading up to the Harvest Festival.

"Miss Everna, why are there sticks in those apples?"

"They're candied apples," she said.

"Candied?"

"See that shiny coating on the outside? They're coated in melted sugar and then cooled," she explained. "It gives the apple a really sweet and crunchy shell."

Adela looked up at her, her eyes pleading. "Can I try one? We ain't had nothin' like that in Windhollow."

Everna pulled her coin purse from the pocket of her apron and handed her a couple of copper pieces. "Go on."

With a gleeful smile, she hurried off across the square. Everna couldn't help but smile. Children were truly resilient creatures, more so than most gave them credit for. They took most things in stride, unbothered by the burdens of the world, even when faced with the worst of circumstances. While her brother was apprehensive and overwhelmed by the town’s size, Adela was full of wide-eyed wonder. Where it was obvious Dain had suffered a great emotional upheaval, no one would expect the same of Adela.

As soon as Adela was out of earshot, Everna turned to Wil, prepared to finish her question, when another voice cut her off.

"It's nice to see you in town, for once."

Pala Ashburn, much like her late husband, may as well be extended family. Everna didn't see her nearly as often as she saw Mayor Ashburn, as Pala's duties kept her contained in the town's archives, but she still considered her something of an aunt. Pala and her mother had been close friends since childhood; they may as well have grown up together.

The weeks, however, hadn't been kind to her. Though the furred cowl of her cloak hid much of her hair, wild and untamed curls, poked out from beneath the lining. Her face showed no signs of stress, a likely side-effect of Leah's healing, but the dolefulness in her eyes betrayed the gentle smile that spread across her lips.

"And I'm glad to see you up and walking around," Everna said. "I feared the worst when Corden told me what happened."

Pala waved her off. "It's not the first time they've come after me. I anticipated they'd move eventually, though I hadn't expected them to be so obvious about it. Shroud has never taken well to having their plans disrupted."

Her mother hadn't explained how she and Pala knew about the situation (she dodged the question every chance she had), but given the town's true history Everna could only assume they knew far more about the matter than she did. From what Corden said, it seemed as if they'd suspected Shroud's involvement before Wil confirmed it. Everna couldn't say it surprised her; Pala and her mother were both Pendel natives, and they'd always known more than they let on.

"I'm sure they're getting desperate," Wil said. "Windmore's failed them twice now, and Everna's proving to be more trouble than they likely expected."

Pala snorted in amusement. "Yes, well, that's nothing new for Everna. You wouldn't think it looking at her, but she can be quite impish when she wishes."

"I am a perfectly responsible and well-behaved adult, I'll have you know," Everna huffed.

"And yet you broke into the Guard post," Pala said. "With impeccable timing, might I add? No sooner than your mother insisted you would 'never do such a thing,’ I receive word that you did."

"That was entirely his fault," Everna said, jerking her thumb at Wil. "I was wholly against the idea."

A knowing smile touched her lips. "Because it was illegal or because of your circumstances?"

"Both?"

"Because you couldn't talk your way out of it," Pala said with a roll of her eyes. "Breaking the rules without breaking the rules has always been your specialty."

"I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about."

Pala chuckled and waved her off once more. "Regardless, I still firmly believe that none of this would be an issue if Shadowguard had established a cohort here, as they promised, what? Ten years ago?"

"Politics," Wil said, scowling. "The useless idiots in the High Court have gotten too comfortable with their temporary control and aren't as cooperative as they used to be. They fear if giving Shadowguard anymore influence will undermine their authority. If they were doing their jobs properly in the first place, that wouldn't be an issue."

"No, if the king could've kept it in his pants, there wouldn't be an issue," Everna muttered as she turned to look at the edge of the square. Adela had gotten her apple, a generous chunk torn from the side, and had taken to wandering about the markets, peering at the signs and then at the wares as if trying to memorize what the string of letters meant.

"While he may not be here any longer, he is still a king," Pala chided. "You should mind how you speak."

King or not, he was still responsible for the throne dispute. Neither his status nor his death absolved him of fault.

"Oh, please. He doesn't deserve an ounce of respect, and he had what was coming for him," Wil said with no small amount of bitterness.

The kingdom had split opinions regarding King Keeland, she'd found. If asked, much of the kingdom would say he was a good king, but not for his appearances or personal endeavors. As far as Inverness was concerned, a king whose policies did not poorly affect their lives was a good one.

The nobles at the academy insisted otherwise. They claimed he was not the regal and fair monarch he presented himself, but a raging alcoholic with severe anger issues, an ego unheard of for even for a king, and a startling aversion to refusal of any kind. Half of the women who bore his children were much younger than him and many, allegedly, were unwilling — drugged, charmed, pressured by their families as they hoped to elevate their status. Among the upper circles, there was speculation that he hadn't died of a sudden heart—stop, but that one of those women poisoned him. Some believed one of his children may have killed him.

. The nobility excelled in the art of sabotage, and more than once, the Courts caught them fabricating scandals for the sake of publicity and personal gain — if not for the sake of shoveling responsibility onto the other party to absolve them of theirs. Though, the sheer animosity in Wil's voice left her wondering if, perhaps, the rumors carried more truth than she initially assumed.

Pala cleared her throat. "On a much more relevant note, Everna, I don't suppose I could convince you to sing for this year's festival? The delay caused some complications with the performers Arden initially intended to showcase."

"With all due respect, I don't think that's appropriate given the circumstances," Everna said. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather sit this one out. I haven't had time to prepare, and I certainly don't have the time now."

"I suspected that was the answer, but I thought I'd ask regardless. Perhaps now I can convince Andryll to grace us with his voice, since he tries to avoid it every year."

"That'll certainly be something," Everna said. "How is Witt holding up, by the way? I haven't seen him, or Landen, now that I think of it, since..."

Pala shook her head. "Neither of them has taken it well. Witt left his house for the first time since just the other day and last I heard, Landen's so distraught he can hardly sleep. The guilt is eating away at him, even though I've assured him it's not his fault. He and Lyra did the best they could, but they're not clerics, after all."

Somehow she found it difficult to picture Landen distraught.

"I still can't help but feel this is all my fault. If—"

"There will be none of that, young lady," Pala said, her voice gentle but stern. "I haven't a clue what they want with you, but this is not your fault and I won't hear another word about it. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mother.”

Pala rolled her eyes, though she smiled. "Good. Now, I expect to see you having fun at the festival. After everything you've been through, you deserve a good night. Especially since you won't get to celebrate your birthday this year. It should be in a couple of days now, yes?"

"Actually, it's today," Everna said. "Though I wasn't expecting people to remember. I'd completely forgotten myself until Mom flung a flower crown on my head this morning."

Pala stared at her for a moment, then reached into the pocket of her coat. "Ah. It is the second, isn't it? I was going to give this to you early so your mother didn't find out, but I suppose now would be the best time."

Everna nearly choked on her own shock when Pala removed the hefty coin purse from her pocket. "Oh gods, Pala, I can't. That's far too much."

Despite her protest, Pala shoved the coin purse into her hands. "You can and you will. We do this every year, Ever. You should know better than to argue. If you don't take it, I'll just have Andryll shove it into your pocket when you're not looking."

Everna loosed the top and peered inside. A wealth of gold coins sat piled atop each other. Pala was right; if her mother knew she had it, she'd insist that she'd “hold on to it for her” and Everna knew she'd never see it again. Parents taking the coin was just as much a tradition as others giving it.

"Happy Birthday, dear. Hopefully, these last few months will be kinder to you than the rest of the year has been."

With a pat on her shoulder and a stern reminder that she expected to see her at the festival, Pala hurried off toward the tavern.

Everna bit back a sigh as she pocketed the purse. She wasn't planning to attend the festival for the same reason her parents hadn't thrown a party. It would draw too much attention, and the recent revelations regarding the Guard only served to further the conflict between the townsfolk. If they couldn't trust the Crown's Guard, who could they trust?

She heard the whispers in the tavern: it was too much of a coincidence that someone had accused her of two murders within a short span of time? Windmore had evidence that she was in the Guard post when Sir Swiftbrook died. If she wasn't guilty, why was she in the post to begin with? Windmore only ran because she threatened to kill him.

If Shroud intended to turn half the town against her, they succeeded.

Adela came bounding back a few moments later, her apple gone and juice smeared across her face. "Miss Everna? Can I get another one for my brother?"

"Not right this moment. He's on duty. You can take him to get one later when he gets off."

She puffed her cheeks. "He's not allowed to eat on duty?"

Before Sir Swiftbrook's murder, it might have been allowed, but with the current state of affairs, the Guard had abandoned their lackadaisical ways. Corden brought with him the rigid order of the cities. The days of on-duty Guards lazing about in the tavern or browsing the markets for treats were over. Pendel's lax methods had left Shroud with far too much room to maneuver, and now it was not a luxury they could afford.

"He is, but that's not quite food and he certainly can't carry it around with him," Everna said. Adela wasn't aware of Shroud's presence in Pendel and she intended to keep it that way. As far as she knew, the town hall's destruction resulted from a kitchen fire. "Besides, if I remember correctly, the stall makes a fresh batch around the time he gets off. Those are much better. The candy's softer if you can get them early enough."

Adela huffed. "Fine, but we're goin' soon as he's off."

"If you're done with your own job in time," Everna pointedly reminded her. "You are supposed to be working yourself, right now."

She scrunched her nose and pulled the list from her pocket. "Yes, Mother."

"I am far too young to be your mother, thank you. Now come on, those potatoes won't fetch themselves, and the sooner we get out of the cold, the better."

Calm

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