It was no good. If there had ever been a trail, it was long gone. Fenrin had chosen the wrong direction. He cursed and headed to the inn, all he could do now was wait and see if Geryl had delivered his message.

The Spotted Mare was a quiet inn but a prosperous one, situated at a four way crossroad between Jarldoms. Fenrin secured a room and waited, spending the days scowling in the corner and giving men who dared glance at him a look that made them pay quickly and leave.

His scowl turned to his wolfish grin, however, as Lyra entered. She immediately spotted him and waltzed up the stairs. The barkeep tried to stop her but a wave from Fenrin made him just shrug and let her continue.

Fenrin followed her up. "Last door on the right," he said.

Without looking at him, she entered the room. When he came in she was sitting on the window sill, her face dark. "Hello, brother."

"Sister. How's Geryl?"

She snorted. "Alive and still stupid. I ran into him on my way back to Taka."

Fenrin cocked his head curiously. "You were coming back? Didn't realize that guild was worth dying for."

She scowled. "It's not, but I'm done running away."

He smiled and pulled a chair over, sitting on it backwards and leaning his arms on the back. "Good. I'm assuming you read my letter then. Come home and talk to father so we can finally move on."

"No."

Fenrin growled, "Ly, you're being stupid. I know it's been a year but you haven't forgotten what the Bear is like have you? You can't win this fight and you don't have a choice in the matter. Except about how hard you make it for yourself."

Lyra sneered. "I haven't forgotten. I'm just not as much of a dog as you."

Fenrin stood up, throwing the chair to the side and it broke into a pile of wood. "Dammit, Lyra. I will kill you if you fight me here."

Brief surprise crossed her face at his ferocity, but she just purred, "You'll try. But I didn't come here for a fight. I came here to talk to you."

Fenrin paused, a bit of nervousness at the pit of his stomach. She had that look, the one that as children had preceded Fenrin getting in trouble for one of her mischievous plans.

His pause satisfied her and she continued, "You're not a total idiot, Fen. I'm sure you can't be happy following orders from Father either. You’re right that I can't win this fight...not alone anyway."

Her implications dawned on Fenrin and he ran his fingers through his long hair. "It won't work, Lyra."

"Coward."

He stepped closer to her, towering over her. She stiffened but didn't flinch. "Don't you think I've thought of that? Even if by some miracle we could defeat Bryn, we couldn't defeat his army. And then what? You run off and join the thieves guild, leaving me to clean up the mess. I don't think so. Sure the man's a bastard, but he's our father and his world is our world, turning traitor is a fool's gamble."

Fenrin shifted, a bit surprised at himself for admitting the few occasional times he had thought about turning on Bryn. He didn't have the rebelliousness of Lyra but still he chafed under Bryn's controlling nature.

However, he didn't completely hate being Bryn's son. The Bear brought adventure, glory, and wealth to his family. Fenrin carefully put his hands on Lyra’s shoulders.

He could feel her move to break his arms, but he spoke gently, "Ly, it's not a bad life. He wouldn't ever admit it, not even to Mother, but Bryn misses you and respects you. He sent his people out because he wants your skills. Valhym is getting more and more dangerous for us and we need to stand together to make sure the High King and Jarls stay out of our way. Our enemies are growing, don't you think it's time to stop fighting ourselves? We aren't children anymore, we don't have to fight to be a part of the family. There's a place for you there, Lyra. Come home."

Her eyes scanned his face, searching for a lie but she didn't find one. She shrugged off his hands and he let them fall to his side.

"I don't need a place with him."

"But you could choose it. If he weren't our father, wouldn't you choose our life over others?"

That made Lyra pause. Fenrin could feel her thinking about it and he pushed further. "Think about it, when you left you went to the Thieves Guild, straight to the closest thing to the estate. You're made for this life, it's time to stop fighting."

Lyra's face grew dark and for a minute Fenrin thought he'd blown it but she spoke. "You're right." Fenrin breathed a sigh of relief as she continued, "I enjoy the same things our father does. But that's exactly why I can't work with him. He wants me to bend, to cater to his whim instead of my own. I'm done following orders."

"You followed orders in Taka didn't you?" Fenrin snapped and she frowned.

"My place there was earned."

"So is your place at home." Fenrin was getting irritated. "Lyra make up your damn mind. Do you want a place with the strongest or do you want to run and die fighting us?"

"I'll come back."

Fenrin paused, unsure she was serious. She held up a finger. "Under one condition."

He rolled his eyes but his face grew serious at her next words, spoken with venom, "You promise me that we'll kill him. Not now, maybe not for years, but you'll help me kill him when the time is right."

Her brother recoiled a bit at the bloodlust in her voice. In truth, he hadn't much thought about how his father would die. Although he'd never admit it, the thought of going up against the Bear made his legs turn to jelly. He wasn't ready, they weren't ready. But maybe in the future...

"Fine. But we wait until I agree it's time."

Lyra narrowed her eyes and Fenrin snorted. "I'm not about to throw my life away because you lose your temper and strike too early. I'm done taking the fall for you."

Fenrin reached out a hand and after a moment Lyra took it.

She pulled her hand back and Fenrin gave her his wide grin. "Let's go home."