Livia slowed her steps until she finally stopped altogether. The wind pulled lightly at the edge of her cloak. Her expression was unreadable for a moment, eyes squinting toward the tree line, as if she could focus her thoughts there.
"I don’t know how the talks will go," she admitted.
Serena blinked. She hadn’t expected that answer, not from her.
"I see the way the council tiptoes," Livia continued, her voice softer now. "They pretend to be confident. And maybe Darius believes he’s ready to carry Ironshade through all this. But I’ve seen what happens to strong wolves when the ground beneath them won’t hold. I have seen it up close."
There was no venom in her tone. A rare moment when she did not send a jab Serena’s way. Her fears were the same as Darius and it sounded she had given it much thought, Serena had not fully understood the severity of Dawnbreak’s arrival.
Serena stepped beside her and looked out at the same distant line of trees. "You think the Dawnbreak pack won’t agree to the new alliance?"
"I do not know." Livia’s fingers flexed against the strap of her satchel. "That’s the problem. The delegate is younger than we expected. He is not who any of us were prepared for. And if that is the hand Dawnbreak is playing, what else are they hiding?"
Serena watched her in profile. Livia was still and upright, but the set of her jaw betrayed unease. For once, she didn’t seem to be the solid, impenetrable wall Serena had always known her to be.
"I think," Serena said carefully, "that they are testing us. That does not mean they have made up their minds. Maybe they’re just... cautious."
Livia gave a bitter little laugh. "The world has no patience for caution anymore. Everyone wants blood or promises."
"Then give them promises," Serena said, meeting her eyes. "And keep them. We have made it this far, have we not?"
Livia looked at her then, really looked and her shoulders sagged ever so slightly.
"You’re more optimistic than you look," she said.
"I fake it well," Serena replied with a small smile.
That finally earned the ghost of a chuckle from Livia. She shook her head and continued walking, slower this time. Serena followed.
They reached the horses soon after, and Serena mounted with less effort this time. She didn’t speak again for most of the ride back.
But her chest felt a little lighter.
Maybe she hadn’t learned everything she needed today, but at least she wasn’t the only one worrying about what might come. And maybe, just maybe, Livia didn’t hate her quite as much as she used to. Check latest chapters at ɴovelfire.net
The pair quietly rode to another part of the town, where they were met with less bustle and more cobbled silence. The houses here were older, nestled beneath sloping roofs with smoke curling gently from chimneys. The scent of dye, wool, and freshly baked rye drifted faintly in the air. It was quieter, more lived-in, a pocket of Ironshade that felt removed from the rising tensions they had just discussed.
Livia dismounted first and tied her horse with practiced ease. She glanced back at Serena, who was a touch slower to swing down from her own saddle but did so without needing help.
"We are making one more stop," Livia said shortly.
Serena brushed the front of her cloak. "Another errand?"
"Yes," Livia said. "Try to keep up this time."
She didn’t wait for a response, just turned and strode toward a modest, timber-framed house with deep green shutters and ivy creeping up its sides. Serena followed without complaint, though she couldn’t help raising a brow. Of all the things she’d expected to do today, being hauled around Ironshade’s quieter corners with Livia was not among them.
When Livia knocked, the door creaked open almost immediately. A woman with a toddler on her hip and a little boy peeking from behind her skirt smiled brightly.
"Miss Livia," the woman greeted, stepping aside to let them in.
Serena blinked in surprise. She hadn’t known Livia had such... gentle connections.
The inside of the home was tidy, warm, and smelled faintly of lavender and starch. Folded blankets lined a bench, and bundles of herbs hung near the window. There was a humming stillness here, like a place often filled with music even when no one was singing.
Livia handed over a neatly wrapped bundle from her satchel. "Three dresses. One for each of the girls. I added the ties like you asked."
The woman’s eyes shone as she took the package. "You did not have to do this so quickly."
"I said I would, did I not?"
The little boy tugged at Serena’s cloak. She looked down and gave a hesitant smile, which the child returned before scampering away with a small wooden horse in hand.
"You sew for people this far out?" Serena asked after they stepped back outside.
Livia gave her a sidelong glance. "I do not just bark orders and argue, if that is what you mean."
Serena’s lips twitched. "It was not. I just... I didn’t think you had time for things like that."
"I make time," Livia said simply, mounting her horse again. "Those girls lost their father last winter. Their mother’s too proud to ask for coin, and she would never take charity directly. A dress is simpler. Feels like less of a handout."
Serena swung up beside her and gave a thoughtful nod. "You are very kind."
Livia turned her head sharply. "Do not get ahead of yourself. I’m not trying to win your favour."
"I didn’t say you were."
Serena smiled faintly. "I did not"
Livia scowled but said nothing. They rode on in relative silence, the trees thinning as they made their way back toward the castle path.
Still, something in the air between them had changed. A sort of mutual awareness had settled. They weren’t friends, not yet, maybe not ever. But today had pulled back a curtain neither of them realized they were standing behind.
Serena glanced at Livia’s profile in the fading light, noting how the corners of her mouth twitched, as though she, too, felt the strangeness of it.
Maybe kindness didn’t have to be loud. Maybe it didn’t have to be acknowledged at all. But Serena would remember it.