We had been on foot for days and our supplies were running low. When I asked where we were going, I always got the same answer: 'North. Anna plucked at my cloak.

"I'm tired, Mallo, and my feet hurt."

She was just a child. She didn't understand what was happening here, she had held out for the last few days and followed the group well, but she was tired and had questions. I had them too. When I asked about mother, all I got was a shake of the head. I wondered if Anna knew, if she would go on if she knew.

"Should I give you a piggyback ride?"

Her eyes got really big and she nodded. She loved that. Dad had often carried her around the garden for hours. I stopped and let her climb onto my back. After a few minutes she fell asleep. I glanced at my father, who was walking further ahead in the group. There were nine of us in total. Two young women who had introduced themselves to me as Elena and Ella. They had run a launderette near the harbor before the city had been attacked. That had also been the building I had woken up in. Then there was a mother and her son. Angelica and Michael. They had been waiting for Thomas, a sailor from my father's crew. There was also the boy. He hadn't spoken to me or anyone else since we left the city. I reckoned he was about a year or two older than me. Anna, Dad and I were there too, of course. But there was also the Man . I knew him. Not personally, but from my father's memories. It was the man he had kissed so passionately. He had hardly left my father's side since we had fled the city, but he had just helped Angelica lift Michael onto her shoulders. I quickly caught up with my father.

"How is this supposed to go on?"

He didn't look at me when he answered.

"We're going north until we reach Sodden."

I shook my head angrily.

"You know that's not what I mean. I'm talking about him. About Anna."

He looked at me with a jerk. There it was again, the fear and the guilt. He had hidden them well, but they were always there.

"You know, Mallory, you need to learn to take care of your own shit. And as for Anna, she still thinks her mom is waiting in Sodden. "

I stared at him. He had lied to her. It wasn't the first time, but this. Anna believed her mother was alive. Safe and secure. Although dose had probably just been cremated with the other dead.

"You can lie to me, but not to Anna. What will she think if mother isn't there? What will she think you are?"

Before he could answer me, Michael called out:

"Look mom an old castle."

Sodden was not what I had imagined. It wasn't a grand, magnificent castle. A ruin consisting of a few walls and two towers. I hadn't imagined it like in the stories. But this was no longer a castle, it was the remains. Nilfgaard would follow us. The north was Nilfgaard's next destination. Cintra had fallen. The only thing keeping Nilfgaard from taking the continent was the Brotherhood and the wizards in Aretuza. If Nilfgaard took the north, no one would be able to stop them. And all that was left of the north was Sooden. Or what was left of this castle.

As we stepped through the gate, I looked around. A few people were sitting on the ground and talking. Others were walking through the area with bowls and cups. Others were looking out on the castle walls. While I was still looking around, a man approached us.

"Cintra I assume."

"Yes, they'll be here soon. Maybe four days less."

It was my father who answered.

"We have sent a letter to the Brotherhood and the Kings of the North. They will be here soon."