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“We used our gods-given powers,” Ryder said, “as we all must in the months to come, in the name of Edyn and in the name of thequeen. My wilding magic and my sister’s. Farrin’s power of song and Mara Ashbourne’s sentinel strength.”

He paused then, and in the brief beat of silence, Lady Respa looked keenly at Gemma.

“And Lady Imogen?” she said. “What did she do? Being near such a display of magic must have been painful for her.”

Lord Alaster let out a soft laugh. “She embraced her demon lover and crooned a lullaby to make him feel better.”

Now Alastrina was the one to snap. “Father, for the love of all the gods,” she spat, looking fiercely at him, “would you do all of us a kindness and shut your mouth unless you have something useful to say?”

This was perhaps the worst silence of all. Lord Alaster slowly lowered his glass and stared at his daughter, eyes glittering, and I saw the mighty, beautiful Alastrina Bask shrink right before our eyes. She sat back in her seat, pale and speechless, shoulders slightly hunched as if to protect herself from an oncoming blow.

Gemma spoke into the sudden spooked quiet. “I was able to break the curse, Lady Respa. The monster known as Kilraith had woven a wicked glamour around Talan, and I broke through it and dislodged the object that bound them together.”

“She also tore entire trees from the ground,” said Lord Alaster mildly, still staring down his daughter. “She flung them around like weapons. So my children told me.”

I shot an angry look at Ryder, though I had no right to. We’d told our father the same story.

Lady Kaetha was astonished. “But Lady Gemma has no magic.”

“It seems she does now. Strange, isn’t it? That a woman for whom magic is anathema was able to traipse into the Old Country illegally—with the assistance of a shieldmaiden of the Order, no less—and suddenly bloom into a freak possessing divided magic? The magic ofKerezenandthe magic of Caiathos? What other secrets might the Ashbournes be keeping from us, I wonder?”

My father tore his hand from Gemma’s grip and took a ferocious step toward Alaster. “You dare to accuse my daughter of misdeeds when she has done nothing but fight evil and free a bound creature from forced servitude? And when your own children were right beside her, helping her, defending her?”

Gemma gaped at him. Now it was her face, shocked and grateful, that I couldn’t bear to look at. She reached for Father’s hand again with tears in her eyes, and he took it without looking back at her, seething at Lord Alaster like a wild animal defending his young.

Lord Alaster remained unperturbed. “For all I know, she might have influenced my children’s minds, forced them to trespass into the Oldenside with her. Maybe her beloved demon has been teaching her his ways.”

“Alaster, please stop this,” Lady Enid said quietly, gripping the edge of the table hard. “It’s difficult enough for us all to sit here and talk about such uncertain things, our friendships so new. What are you trying to prove by riling tempers?”

Lord Alaster whirled on her, his arm raised as if to strike.“Friendships?”

I jerked forward in my seat. I heard Lady Leva’s alarmed cry, Gentar’s indignant shout.

But before any of us could move, Ryder surged forward and grabbed his father’s arm. Alaster rose, fighting him, trying to free himself, but Ryder held fast. They struggled in silence for a moment until Ryder seemed satisfied by something I couldn’t see. He flung his father free with a grunt of disgust. Lord Alaster resumed his seat and retrieved his fallen napkin as if nothing had happened.

In the shocked silence, Lord Sesar spoke. “It’s interesting to me that these events are transpiring all at once,” he began, withoutaccusation. He sounded thoughtful, somber. “The sinkhole opening in the Citadel, the chimaera attacking. This…demon…being freed. The monster Kilraith losing his slave, perhaps suffering injury. The Middlemist becoming more dangerous, volatile, violent. A sort of sickness spreading through the Mistlands. Lady Gemma experiencing an onset of powerful and unfamiliar magic. All of this remains unexplained, and yet at the heart of so many of these incidents is an Ashbourne and a Bask.”

The unspoken questions hung in the air:Whyyou? Whythesefamilies? What does it mean? Why has the queen chosenyouto rally her people?

These were questions I couldn’t answer. But I tried my best, desperate for any sort of reassurance in the midst of this terrible dinner.

“This is why we’ve asked you all here,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady. “Because we trust you, because you are influential and respected, your blood blessed by the gods, and because no family—not even two families—can unravel this mystery alone.”

I looked around at all of them, even Lord Alaster, hoping they would see in my eyes or hear in my voice something true, something inarguable that would strike a chord of understanding in their hearts.

“Whatever is affecting the Middlemist,” I said, “whatever created the sinkhole, could also be affecting the queen. She must be protected at all costs. If she falls ill, truly ill, and can no longer reinforce the sinkhole, then the Citadel could fall, and after that the capital. And that disaster, and the Mistfires, and every other new strangeness emerging in our world will only be the beginning. We must find the answers she cannot, allow her the space to heal and protect herself and, therefore, protect her people as best she can.”

Those were all the words I could find. Without thinking, I looked to Ryder, a silent plea on my lips.

He did not disappoint me. “And we can’t allow old feuds andbruised egos to interfere with this task,” he continued. “Doing so would mean betraying the trust the gods put in our ancestors—and even worse, betraying the trust the people of our country have put in us to keep them safe from what lies beyond the Mist.”

I sat back in my chair, my mind whirling. I felt suddenly exhausted. A grave silence filled the room. Alastrina caught my eye and gave me a quick, firm nod. Father quietly took his seat; Gemma stood behind him, her hand on his shoulder, his fingers still holding hers. I clung to the sight of them both and dared to hope that this, at least, was the beginning of something good.

After a moment, Ryder said quietly, “I think it’s fair to say that we all have much to consider. I suggest we retire for the night, think on what we’ve discussed, and resume these conversations at luncheon tomorrow.”

I waited at the table until nearly everyone else had left. A strange feeling kept me sitting there, waiting for Lady Enid and Alastrina to leave the room. It was as if seeing them go meant they would be all right, somehow, that the shadows would fold them away into the house and keep them safe.

Lord Alaster noticed me watching them; his cold gaze settled upon me like the feeling of being followed.