My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 430

Sera

Bram's knock was barely more than a tap, delivered with the knuckles of his closed fist. I bade him enter, and he slipped in like a shadow. Without being asked, he shut the door behind him.

He carried a stack of letters, trussed by a length of cord, his grip tight. The papers made him stand differently, shoulders square and his weight even under him. It was a posture I recognized from the guards marching the halls of Ironmaw. A man carrying a weight, and a secret.

"Luna," he said.

Amara sat on a fur near the wall, working her fingers into the hairs of it and watching them spring back when she let go. She made a small sound at the back of her throat, at nothing.

"I want to see them myself," I said.

"I know." He held them a moment longer, and then he gave them to me, and let his empty hand drop to his side.

I untied the cord and began to read. The pages were worn and dirty, the corners dog-eared, the ink gone brown at the edges. Mina leaned over my shoulder, her breath hot on the back of my neck as she scanned the words. A few lines into the first letter, she let out a low "fuck."

I turned the page slowly, my eyes tracing every line. The next sheet was crumpled, the corners bent at odd angles. Mina swore again as she read, the word tumbling out like a dropped stone. I didn't respond.

Bram stood silent and still beside the door, his eyes fixed on the wall.

Amara got herself up onto her feet and stood a moment finding her balance. Then she went, lurching, weaving toward the far wall and putting a hand flat on the stone when she reached it, driven by nothing I could name. I barely looked up as she passed.

I turned another page. The next sheet was torn along the edge, a jagged rip that had been carefully mended with a length of thread. Mina's hand closed on my shoulder.

"And all this while, Kael sat in my brother's court, planning to usurp him."

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