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They actually didn’t knowwhenTaly had projected—whenshe had managed to shove her soul outside of her body, following the bond to Skye. Time mages were tricky, and novices were even worse, sometimes shifting through the Weave at random. The image they had seen that evening—that had just been the destination. Where andwhenshe was coming from was another matter entirely. It was impossible to know if she had been moving backwards or forwards through the Weave, or if that projection had been months or minutes out-of-sync.

For now, it was easier to let everyone think that Taly was still alive. That the projection was irrefutable proof. Hope was a powerful thing, after all.

Footsteps approached from down the hall, and Ivain didn’t need to glance over to know who had come looking for him. He had expected her to find him eventually.

Crossing her arms, Sarina leaned against the doorframe, watching as he moved between the racks lining the walls, pulling swords and daggers and piling them on the long table that split the room. Though her face was lined from lack of sleep and worry, she had changed out of that awful black into straight gray trousers and a green silk tunic. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had seized on to this new hope, and he had no doubt she had been making her own preparations. Taly was a time mage, and while it was his job to get her back inside the city, his baby sister had likely already started thinking through just how they would keep her concealed.

“What are you doing?” Sarina finally asked.

“Exactly what it looks like,” Ivain replied gruffly. He held up a dagger for inspection, then replaced it on the wall. They had better weapons. “I’m preparing to leave the city.”

“That’s illogical,” she said tiredly. “You know you can’t do that.”

“I can, and I will.” He lifted a long broadsword from the wall. The wiring was rusted, but it was a quick repair. This one would go. “Even if we manage to hold this city, that won’t mean a damned thing if we can’t get the Aion Gate to open. We need a time mage. Desperately.”

Sarina gave a sad sigh, looking down then back at him. “We needyoumore,” she insisted. “I want to find Taly as much as you do, but if you leave, you’re risking the entire city.”

Yes, he knew that. And yes, he had been over the variables. But at this point, he was allowed a bit of selfishness. Until now, he had held himself back, but with this new information— “Taly is Breena’s daughter.”

“I’m aware.”

Ivain threw her a glance.

She shrugged. “The resemblance is there, and there’s only one bloodline that produces that color of eyes. The age is correct as well. Taly was six years old when she came to us. The healers confirmed that, and it still holds despite whatever kind of magic was used to conceal her appearance. And then if we consider how few Highborn children are being born now—there were less than twenty during Taly’s birth year. Only one didn’t survive to adulthood. A girl with blonde hair and gray eyes, whose mother kept her sequestered and away from the public eye. Breena’s first and only child.” Another shrug. “Our sister was a powerful time mage, and Breena was her granddaughter. It’s no surprise Taly is what she is.”

He closed his eyes, gripping the sword in his hands a bit tighter. “Taly is Breena’s child,” he said again, still not quite believing it. “And if we know that much, we can begin making other assumptions.”

“Such as?”

“Well,” he said, grabbing tools and wiring from the bins along the wall, “Breena never announced the sire, but at the time, her householdwasn’t enforcing the use of breeders. That leaves only one viable candidate. Her husband.”

Ivain figured only he knew his sister well enough to see the slight widening of her eyes before it was immediately concealed. It seemed this was one variable she hadn’t yet considered. Or its consequences.

For indeed, shortly after joining the Crystal Guard, Breena had married Atlas Venwraith, the High Lord of Water.

Sarina began to shake her head. “No,” she breathed. “Atlascan’tbe the sire. Why would he have sent Breena back to Lycia if she was pregnant with his child? They would’ve been completely unprotected if his political enemies ever decided to move against her.”

“Not completely.” Clearing a place on the table, Ivain laid out the sword and began stripping the wiring. “Esmund was in Picolo, and he would’ve gladly given his sister refuge. Especially considering that the continent would’ve been a far safer place to birth a child. The mortal cities are stable enough for adults, but all it would’ve taken is a single aether blackout, and she likely would’ve lost the pregnancy. They wouldn’t be the only family to resort to such measures.”

Sarina looked slightly dazed as she began to walk toward him. “A High Lord’s daughter,” she murmured, arms crossed protectively around her body. “All this time, our little one, our Taly… she was a High Lord’s daughter.”

Ivain pounded a fist on the table, aether flaring around him. “Taly ismydaughter,” he growled, low and dangerous. He didn’t often give in to his instincts, but considering the night’sevents, his hold on his temper was becoming tenuous.

Sarina merely arched a brow, eyeing the dent in the metal tabletop. “I think you meanourdaughter.”

Finishing the repair, he shoved the sword off to the side, then stalked back to the wall. “I mean that while Atlas may be her sire, he is only important because of who he is and what she likely inherited from him.”

“You mean his aether pool?”

He nodded. Breena had been powerful, but bonding with a Shard required a truly massive capacity for aether. Most mages that tried were burned up from the inside. “If Taly’s aether pool is even a fraction the size of his, every shadow mage within a ten-mile radius is going to be able to sense her. Kato said he could find men to help with the retrieval, but I don’t trust anyone else to do this. It has to be me. I’m going.”

Sarina stopped in front of the table, running a finger along an old dagger that had been too rusted to repair. It had belonged to her husband, he realized just a moment too late. The flash of long-buried sorrow was brief but acute. “What is this really about?” she asked.

“I’ve told you.” Skipping the onyx warhammer—it was too heavy for the horses—he selected a thin rapier with a line of earth crystals embedded in the grip. This one would be good for the boy. He needed to start using his off hand.

“I mean it.” Sarina caught his eyes when he turned around. “I don’t blame you for wanting to go. Right now, there’s nothing I want more than to find our girl and beat some sense into that stubborn head. But we can’t. Neither of us. I havehelped you unite these people, but I can’t lead them the way that you can. I can’t oversee the Watchers or force dimensional gates to open. If you leave—if youdie—this city falls with you. You know that, Ivain. You know that you couldn’t be the one to find her before, and it can’t be you now, so what is this really about?”

Ivain felt something in his chest cave as he tried to find a place for the rapier on the overcrowded table. She was right, of course. Power always had a cost, and in this case, it was freedom. The freedom to take care of his own. To only consider his personal priorities.