Elder Lance’s POV:

The more Lance spent on the road, the more he realized he shouldn’t have taken the offer of the lieutenants.

The Vine clawhold was almost as far north as it came, and no matter how much he hated to acknowledge it, the fact was that he was old, and right now, trying to form that he wasn’t was doing him more harm than good.

Initially, when he had been briefed about a transgression this minimal, he had scoffed at the rest of the elders. Why did they ever think that he would accept conducting an inquiry?

But he had quickly changed his mind the moment they told...