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swell of pride run through him, a pride he hadn’t expected. His girls were so strong, each of them independent and powerful and beautiful, and they’d become such a tight, cohesive unit. They loved each other as much as they loved him, and it worked like that, each of them caring about the group as a whole, each of them trying to do their best to make the group stronger.

And soon, he’d add Galla to the mix. Part of him worried it might be difficult, but he knew she’d only make them stronger in the end.

He turned back toward the door and took Key’s hand.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get married.”

2

Cam led the girls through the Mansion, holding a large lamp aloft in one hand while he followed the floor markings that took him to the center of the mountain.

They passed halls and halls of doorways leading to huge dormitories packed with people, to storage rooms and workshops, past glowing forges and chattering men sitting on wooden crates while they carved new arrows from freshly cut wood. They also passed families and small children chasing each other in strange circles playing new imaginary games, past the detritus of lives, discarded cloth outside a seamstress’s shop, wood shavings piling up in the corners around a carpenter’s home. The Mansion teemed with life and grew bigger each day as the wolves pushed closer and forced more refugees to flee for their lives.

He came to a hall that split down a wide staircase; the stairs cut into the rock of the mountain itself. He took them, the girls walking just behind, and came to a pair of large double wood and iron doors. He pushed against the iron ring that acted as the handle and the door groaned inward, lamplight spilling out into the otherwise dim hallway.

The room beyond looked more like a cave than most. While the Mansion had been carved out of the mountain itself and retained some natural features, most of the stalactites and stalagmites had been hacked down, the ground smoothed out, the walls carved into pleasing shapes.

But this place had been left almost entirely untouched. Stalagmites and flowstone lined a narrow path, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling impossibly high up in the air, some in varied twisting patterns like cave-dwelling eels. Lanterns were hung from these rocky teeth and were perched on every near-flat surface.

In the center of the room was the monolith. It was carved from sheer black stone and stood nearly fifteen feet high, reaching the upper limits of the room itself. It was eight feet wide, and must have weighed thousands of pounds. Cam had no clue how it was brought here, if it was taken in pieces then assembled, or carved from some mysterious rock formation where it stood. But either way, the monolith was the symbolic center of the Urspirit, a visual reminder that all was one, all people were one, all Humans would return to the Ur beyond death, that the spirit itself watched and waited for them to come home.

Cam stood just inside the doorway for a moment, staring at that monolith, until his eyes moved down to several figures standing at its base.

The monolith sat on top of a series of tiered steps. He recognized several Elders standing at the very bottom and off to one side, each man holding a lantern between their hands. Their heads turned to stare at Cam.

There was Maris of Hewitt village, a square, stocky man with thinning gray hair and dark eyes, smiling like a wolf; Edwin, of Wright village, stood next to him, with a huge black and white beard, dark tanned skin, and seemingly several years younger and twenty pounds thinner than the rest; Elder Frew from Nevins, with a shaggy shock of puffy white hair on the top of his head, standing taller than the others and wearing simple leather armor, scratched and dented from use; and finally Elder Dagan, bald head gleaming in the lamplight, lines around his eyes and mouth sunken deep, a big smile on his lips.

Standing above them, just before the monolith itself, was Galla Remorn and Kraed.

Cam took a step closer and sucked in a breath as he stared at his future wife. Her shock of red hair was braided in intricate patterns down her back. She wore a crimson dress, slit up high along one waist, trimmed with gold and cut low enough to show off every inch of her beautiful, ample breasts. Cam remembered seeing her body in the baths what felt like years ago, remembered the curves of her hips, and he felt his pulse quicken in response.

“Cam,” Miuri whispered. “They’re staring at us. I think we should get up there.”

Cam cleared his throat as Galla smiled at him. She seemed hesitant, a little uncertain, which struck him as strange. Galla Remorn had set all this up, had gone against her father to marry Cam and was instrumental in drawing the support of the Elders away from him. She was the mind behind all of this, the pillar on which their future stood, and he knew that she was without a doubt one of the most intelligent people he’d ever met in his life.

And yet she looked as nervous as he felt, and that gave him the courage to stride down the narrow path hewn in the stalagmites, past the glimmering lanterns giving off their dull yellow glow, and up to the base of the structure.

Kraed looked down at him. He was the former Elder of Cam’s village, but had renounced his politics to take up the mantle of Urpriest again. He nodded his head slowly and gestured at Cam.

“Camrus Medlar,” he said. “Have you come to take Galla Remorn into your house?”

“I have,” Cam said.

“Approach.”

Cam climbed the steps until he stood facing Galla. She stared up into his eyes and he saw a small, hesitant smile grace her full lips. He reached out and took her hands, and although