"Some bonds are chains. Others are wings. The trick is surviving long enough to learn which one you've been given."
Elias's POV
The East Quarter Chambers smelt like snow and stone. Cold, but not unfriendly. The corridors leading us in had been lined with lanterns, their flames catching in the frost like scattered stars. I'd braced myself for intimidation-spiked gates, grim soldiers, the usual parade of dominance the North loved so much, but what we were given instead was… quiet. Orderly and almost welcoming.
The chambers prepared for us opened into a wide antechamber with a fire already burning in the hearth. Thick rugs swallowed the sound of our boots, and a long oak table stood laden with food: roasted game, dark bread, steaming bowls of root stew.
"Well," Juno muttered, dropping his pack by the door. "Either they want us comfortable or poisoned."
I shot him with a wry look. "Both things can be true."
