You’d been friends with Matthias Helvar for as long as you can remember. His family’s cottage was right across from yours, and even on the days with the heaviest snowfalls, you’d find yourself there. Even when everything went wrong, people you loved dying, you stuck together—even moreso when Matthias trained to be drüskelle.

He rarely saw you anymore. But when the ship pulled into the icy harbor, you’d always be the first to greet him.