Ankyra Sound your bones are the spires of Stockholm

The queen takes the terms after a few glances to the women behind her but Thuringwethil does not let her eyes fall away. She does not look to the others that she silently questions or those that move and she waits until acceptance is spoken. It does not take long before she gets it and slowly Heda nods once. If she’d been given the chance for such an event with the Phoenix wolves rather than a demand over the river as she had with Reek and, later, Saena, things may be different. Here, most of her wolves stand on one side and Akantha’s stand behind her; there will be no confusion on what is or isn’t allowed. Both sides can easily get what they want out of this relationship, even if it goes beyond their typical workings.

“It has been nice to meet you, Akantha,” she says though her voice is even and smooth, not indicative of a lie or not. A flicker of her lip may be the only betrayal of a smile suppressed. She looks once to Dio, and then Tirgatao, and as she takes a step back, so do they, and it is when their new friends turn to lead that she leads her own back home.