Kara had only just crossed the threshold when she heard the scrape of a chair being pushed back, boots on the floor. She gripped Sebastian’s hand tightly, her heart racing as the man by the hearth rose. She did her best to ignore the flames, the smell of burning wood.
Focus on his face. Don’t make a fool of yourself.
Sebastian’s father – Lord Thorne – stood in front of them. He was broader than she remembered. Taller somehow. His presence filled the small room. Tobias strode towards them and, without hesitation, pulled Sebastian into his arms.
That’s... unexpected.
Sebastian went rigid with disbelief. Slowly, almost warily, he returned the embrace. When they let go, Tobias stepped back quickly with the air of a man who had allowed himself to show more than he meant to. But Kara caught the way his eyes flicked up and down his son. A soldier’s way – checking for injuries.
“You did well, my boy,” Tobias said gruffly, gripping his son’s forearm. “Better than I dared hope.”
Sebastian stood in silence, staring at his father as if he’d gone slightly mad. When Tobias turned to her, Kara straightened instinctively. After everything she’d been through, her knees still threatened to give under the weight of Lord Thorne’s gaze.
“Lady Hale,” Tobias said, low but steady, “you are braver than most I have ever known. And loyal to a fault. You stood with my son when every voice told you to condemn him. That is no small thing. I am glad, very much so, that Sebastian was able to reach you in time.”
Heat crept up her face. She hadn’t expected praise of all things. Not from him. Before she could say anything in return, Tobias’s expression darkened. He clasped his hands tightly behind his back and opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again. The muscle in his jaw pulsed once – like his son’s did when he had something particularly difficult to say. So she waited.
“I also owe you an apology,” he said at last. “I have been made aware of what Cade Sarren did to you at the pyre.”
Sebastian inhaled sharply beside her. She looked to the fire without meaning to. Tobias noticed. He shifted subtly – enough that his broad frame blocked the flames from her view.
“You must know this: it is neither taught nor condoned in Thorne. It is not who we are. For his cruelty, you have my deepest regret. No woman should suffer such barbarity – least of all under my banner.”
The words hit Kara hard.
Hearing Cade’s name was... difficult. Nausea rolled through her at the sound of it. Her throat got too tight, and tears threatened. Without a word, Sebastian stepped closer so their shoulders touched, warm and protective. No lord had ever apologised to her before. Not like this. Herown father would have called it weakness, shifted blame, or ignored it altogether. But Tobias Thorne had. Because he knew what Cade had done. And he cared.
She bowed her head respectfully. “Thank you, my lord,” she managed. “That means more than you know.”
Sebastian was staring at his father, but he didn’t say a word. Several emotions were warring across his face, and Kara wasn’t entirely sure which one would win.
Tobias watched the fire for a long time. “If you have chosen each other, you are Thorne now,” he said. “And Thorne protects its own.”
Sebastian’s hand tightened on Kara’s. “Protects its own?” he hissed. “You sent Thorne steel after us. You nearly had her killed.”
For the briefest moment, something warred in Tobias’s eyes – annoyance, regret, and perhaps even admiration for his son’s sharp tongue. It vanished quickly, the cool mask slipping back into place.
“I told you, Sebastian. I did what the Council demanded. And think, boy, if I hadn’t, you’d have been hunted by others whose movements I had no knowledge of, Sorrel, Navyr, anyone with a blade or bow,” he said without emotion. “This way, I kept you within my control. I was able to assist you when it mattered.”
“You kept me within your control,” Sebastian repeated slowly, deadly quiet. “She was tied to a fucking pyre. Smoke in her lungs. Do you understand that? She nearly died!” His hands were shaking. “I almost didn’t make it in time.”
“But you did. Because I gave you the means to escape.”
“She’s alive. Barely. Don’t ask me to thank you for it,” Sebastian shot back.
“I’m not asking for gratitude,” Tobias said. “I’m asking you to understand.”
Silence fell between them. Eventually, Sebastian gave a single, sharp nod.
“And now, I do what’s right,” Tobias said firmly.
Sebastian glared at his father, but Tobias didn’t look away. Kara hadn’t thought of it like that – Tobias had been walking a knife’s edge; keeping his son alive whilst ensuring the Council remained blind. To her surprise, she found she respected it – the ruthless calculation. But her thoughts kept circling back, echoing what he had said before that.
If you have chosen each other, you are Thorne now.
She hadn’t expected acceptance like that. Not as a Hale. From a Thorne lord. She met Tobias’s gaze head-on.
“You asked if we have chosen each other, my lord,” she said clearly. “I have chosen your son. I will always choose him.” A thrill shot through her, declaring it like that. How true it was.
