Chapter 2

After confirming that Cyrus had feelings for me, I became a thief carrying a secret.

I began quietly planning a confession.

In our world, everyone lived off the resources of their clan. The hunting grounds belonged to the clan, the salt mines belonged to the clan, even every cut of venison in the kitchens was distributed by the clan.

But the person I was confessing to was him — and I couldn't use resources he'd given me to declare my feelings. That wouldn't be fair.

So I started saving, little by little.

In my spare time I went to the medicinal herb slopes at the edge of the territory to help the old hunters dry strips of meat, flipping the heavy cuts under the harshest sun until my arms ached too much to lift. On weekends I went to the riverbank to scrub hides for the washing women, my knuckles cracking and reddening in the winter water. During the cold season I climbed above the snowline for Elder Erma to gather rare herbs, wading through snow past my knees until my fingers turned purple.

Cyrus knew I was taking on these odd jobs. At first he pushed back strongly. "You don't need to do any of this. You're my sister — the resources of the entire Silver Moon Clan are your safety net."

I told him I just couldn't sit still and needed something to do. He didn't argue further, only quietly arranged for a few more guards to watch over me in the background.

Three years. A full three years.

I'd finally saved enough, and traded with an old craftsman at the border market for that dagger.

When Cyrus was eighteen, we were passing through a stall at the border market when he suddenly stopped walking and stared at a hand-forged silver-moon dagger for a long time.

The blade was narrow and long, the edge carrying a cold blue sheen, and at the base of the hilt was set a small moonstone. In the Silver Moon Clan's tradition, the most solemn token of love between partners wasn't flowers or furs — it was a dagger. The meaning was: I give you my life.

He reached out, then pulled his hand back, shook his head, and walked on.

That month he'd just settled a hunting-ground dispute with a neighboring clan on behalf of the clan, spending nearly half the winter's dried-meat reserves to smooth things over. I was never permitted to know the state of the clan's stores, but I knew his personal share was nearly depleted.

I memorized the look of that dagger.

I saved from fifteen to eighteen.

Last month, I finally had enough.

I bought the dagger. Wrapped it carefully in the finest hide I had.

I also recorded a confession on a moonstone.

"Cyrus, it's Aelia." I was so nervous I didn't know where to put my hands. "I don't know how to say this… but I've thought about it for a long time, and I decided I have to tell you."

"I love you. The kind of love where… I want to be with you."

I recorded it over a dozen times before I got through it successfully.

The day of the confession — Cyrus's twenty-first birthday banquet.

I wore a new white dress. Cyrus always said white suited me best, so I wore white.

I clutched the wrapped dagger and came running down the stairs from the second floor of the stone fortress. I asked his head guard where he was, learned he was in the central courtyard of the main fortress, and bolted straight there.

My heart was pounding harder with every step.

Through the corridor of the stone fortress, through the side door into the main courtyard—

And then I saw it.

The central courtyard had been completely transformed.

Swaths of moonbloom flowers spread from the fire pit all the way to the base of the cliff wall, their white petals shimmering with a silver-blue cold glow in the moonlight. Between the fields of flowers, clusters of frostbell grass and silver moss-blooms were woven in. Above the sea of flowers hung countless bone lanterns, each one burning with a pale-blue wolf flame.

The décor alone must have cost the clan half a year of reserves.

Every important figure in the clan was in attendance. Warriors in ceremonial hide armor stood on either side of the flower-sea, holding drinking horns, their expressions grave and solemn. Their partners were draped in the finest furs, speaking quietly, bone ornaments flickering in the moonlight.

In the center of the flower-sea, Cyrus wore a black hide ceremonial suit tailored specifically for this night, a white moonbloom pinned at his chest. He stepped along the petal-strewn stone path, and under the eyes of everyone present, slowly, solemnly, lowered himself onto one knee.

Before him stood a woman I had never seen.

"Now that is the bearing of an Alpha," I heard someone murmur nearby.

I stood at the very edge of the crowd, my fingers tightening without my knowing, nails pressing into the hide wrapping around the dagger.

What was this?

Cyrus caught sight of me through the sea of flowers and the crowd. He rose to his feet, draped an arm around the woman's waist, and raised his drinking horn toward me with a smile.

"Good timing, Aelia," he said. "I'm welcoming my Luna."

"…Congratulations." After a long silence, I finally found my voice.