Corvin came himself.
The knock carried through the front of the house just as Averik was pushing his chair back from the table.
Snow’s head came up first. She had been stretched beside the hearth, taking up an unreasonable amount of floor, but one sound from the yard put her on her feet. Evelyn looked up at the knock and met Averik’s eyes.
"That should be Corvin."
Averik was already moving. "Get your coat."
A small smile touched her mouth. "I’ll be right behind you."
She took it from the peg by the door and followed him out.
Snow made it two steps after them before Averik looked back. "Stay."
The white wolf stopped. Her ears tipped forward, clearly unimpressed with the decision, but she sat.
"Good girl."
Averik shut the inner door.
Cold daylight lay hard over District 2. The snow packed between the houses had been churned gray where boots and carts passed most often, and the lane beyond Averik’s wall was already busy enough that voices carried between the roofs. He crossed the yard with Evelyn beside him and opened the outer gate just wide enough to face whoever was waiting without inviting them in.
Corvin stood on the other side.
Corvin wore a dark winter coat and gloves, with a thin crust of snow around his boots. Nothing about him announced trouble, which made him more annoying than if he had arrived with half of Unit 2 at his back.
"Morning," Corvin said. His attention moved briefly to Evelyn. "I won’t keep you long."
"Good morning, Corvin," Evelyn replied.
She stopped beside Averik, hands loose at her sides, her attention on Corvin.
Averik rested one hand against the gate. "Your man said you wanted to talk."
"I did." Corvin glanced toward the lane as a worker came past carrying a covered basket against his chest. He waited until the man had gone by before continuing. "I heard you chose Unit 1."
Fast, but not surprising. The fortress had too many people living on top of each other for decisions like that to stay private long.
"I did."
Corvin nodded once. "Your father ran Unit 2 for years. You grew up in this district. I figured you’d come our way."
There it was.
A reasonable question from the one man Roderic had told him not to trust. Corvin was also the man who had given Averik Snow when she was young.
The warning still had value as long as Averik kept it to himself. Giving Corvin even part of it now would buy nothing. The same went for Roderic’s recommendation of Garran. Corvin had asked why he wanted Unit 1. Averik had an answer that happened to be true.
"Unit 1 goes farther out," he said. "I need more ground for my Path. More beasts worth taming."
Corvin’s eyes stayed on him.
His face gave Averik nothing useful. Corvin neither flinched nor asked anything about what Roderic had left behind.
Evelyn said nothing. He could feel her attention shift between them, quiet and steady.
Corvin ran his thumb once over the seam of his glove. "Can’t argue with a Tamer wanting beasts."
Averik almost smiled at that.
Corvin continued, "I’ll admit, I expected something different. Roderic and I worked together a long time." He let that sit for a moment. "You’re set on Unit 1, then?"
"Yes." Averik met his eyes. "I’ve decided."
"All right." Corvin gave another small nod. "That’s all I wanted to know."
Still nothing Averik could use. Corvin shifted back from the gate. "I hope you find what you’re looking for out there."
"I will."
The answer came out flat enough that Evelyn’s gaze touched him for half a second.
The corner of Corvin’s mouth moved. It could have meant anything, so Averik left it there.
"Good day, Averik. Evelyn."
"Good day," Evelyn said, her voice courteous and no warmer than it needed to be.
Averik didn’t bother adding anything. He watched Corvin walk down the lane until two houses and a bend took him from sight.
Roderic’s warning still sat where it had before the conversation. Corvin hadn’t given him anything that turned it into proof, and that irritated Averik more than open hostility would have.
He pulled the gate shut before another pair of workers reached the yard and dropped the bar back into place.
Evelyn waited until they were halfway across the yard before speaking. "You didn’t mention Garran."
Averik looked at her.
She adjusted one glove as they walked, silver-gray eyes on him rather than the gate behind them. "What you told me before," she added softly. "That Roderic wanted you with Unit 1."
"No."
She didn’t ask why right there in the cold. That was one of the things Averik liked about her. Evelyn could notice a blade without immediately grabbing for the handle.
Snow was waiting several steps back from the inner door when they came inside. She pushed to her feet, crossed the room, and shoved her broad head against Averik’s side with enough weight to move an ordinary man.
He barely shifted.
"You survived," he told her.
Snow snorted against his coat.
Evelyn laughed under her breath as she closed the door and began undoing her own coat. "She suffered terribly."
"I can tell."
The joke was enough to break the silence they had brought back inside.
Averik scratched once behind Snow’s ear, then moved toward the table. Evelyn hung her coat and followed. She didn’t sit immediately. Instead, she stood near his chair and waited for him to look up.
"Do you think he’ll ask again?" she asked.
"Maybe."
That was all Corvin had earned.
Evelyn rested her fingertips on the chair beside her. "If he does, would you like me with you again?"
Averik looked up at her. The question came softly.
"Yes."
Her expression softened. "Then I’ll be there."
Averik set his palm just below her ear. Evelyn stepped closer on her own, warm beneath his hand.
"Corvin got the answer I was willing to give," Averik said. "He knows why Unit 1 is useful to me. He doesn’t need the rest."
Evelyn held his gaze. "All right." She paused, then asked, "Would you like me to help with anything before tomorrow?"
That was better than asking him what he was hiding.
His thumb brushed once beneath her ear before he let her go. "Tomorrow. We’ll get ready, then go to Garran."
"Then I’ll be ready when you are." Her smile this time was small and private. "Just let me know what you’d like me to handle."
"I will."
Snow had followed them to the table and now sat beside Averik’s chair, staring at both of them as though she expected this discussion to produce food.
It didn’t.
Averik sat, and Evelyn took the chair beside him. Corvin had come to his gate and left with nothing Averik minded losing. That was enough for today.