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Ivain shook his head. “I wouldn’t know without inspecting her myself. It could be some kind of concealment magic like your brother believed. I’ve heard of rival families trying to infiltrate their enemy’s stronghold with glamours and tricks, disguising one of their own to look like someone else. It could also be something innocuous. Something she, perhaps, did to herself. There are mages that prey on humans, charging them exorbitant amounts for spells and charms they claim can extend their lifespans.”

“Taly wouldn’t fall for something like that.” Life-extension magic was dangerous and highly regulated, and she was too smart to get pulled into some back-alley enchanter’s shop.

“Probably not,” Ivain conceded. “Though it would make sense. She’s been grappling with her mortality this past year, and I think I would prefer that explanation to any of the alternatives.”

Ivain turned and leaned against the table, looking tired and worn in the dim light of the tent. He dragged a hand across his face, wiping the moisture from his eyes. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the risk you took when you lied. Kato had a valid concern, and if Taly really had been working with the enemy, as the evidence at the time suggested… You can’t let personal feelings get in the way when the consequence could be someone else’s life.”

“I followed my instincts,” Skye insisted, placing a hand on the darkened glamour interface. “Just like you taught me to do. Taly didn’t betray us. I don’t know why she left. Maybe she was running from something. Maybe I was just being a blind fool, and she saved me from myself, but… she didn’t betray us. She did the exact opposite. We would’ve died on that bridge if you hadn’t known to watch the southern roads. Lying was the right choice, and you would’ve done the same.”

Ivain said nothing. It was answer enough.

“Let me look for her,” Skye said softly. “We won’t be leaving here for several days yet. Let me go to Vale.”

“I’m sorry, Skye. No.”

“Please, Ivain. I stayed when every instinct screamed at me to go. I stayed, and I did my duty, but these people are safe now. Safer with you thanthey ever were with me, so please—let me go.Now, while there still might be a chance of finding her.”

Ivain crossed his arms. “I’ve already sent Aiden.”

“I could help him. I could find him and send him back here. A healer is no use in a forest, miles away from the people that need him.”

“Earth mages can do more than heal,” Ivain countered. “They have tracking magic.”

True. It was true. Aiden probably still had samples of Taly’s blood from when she was recovering from the harpy, enough to cast a locator spell. He would be able to find her so long as her feet remained firmly rooted to the ground.

Still, the thought of being here when she was out there, when she could be hurt, maybe dead or dying…

“You know I’m right, Skylen.”

Skye hated that his first instinct was to obey. To accept that the choice wasn’t his to make. All his life, none of the choices that mattered had ever been his to make.

He sunk down on a nearby bench. “Please,” he said again, broken. “Please, Ivain, I… I love her.” And she would be furious if she knew just how much he was willing to throw away to find her, but he didn’t care. “I love her, so please... let me go. I can’t just stay here and do nothing.”

Ivain gave him an unreadable look, quiet for a long moment. Long enough that Skye began to worry that he’d made a mistake. Ivain wasn’t a hateful man—he’d raised a human as his own. But he was rational. And loving a human wasnota rational thing to pursue. Not for a man who would be duke, whose birth demanded that he ascend the throne to the most powerful dominion in the FeyImperium, whose family would demand he leave her behind.

Finally, Ivain gave a weary sigh. “I know,” he said with something like sympathy in his eyes. “I know exactly how you feel about that girl. Sarina and I both have watched the two of you growing closer for years, and I’m sorry you only discovered it for yourself now. That neither of you got the time you deserved. But that doesn’t change my decision. Part of the burden of leadership is having to stay behind. It’s having to assess people’s strengths and weaknesses and knowing when someone else is more suited to the task. Aiden can track her, he can heal her, he can move through the forest undetected, and he has already been sent.”

Fair points. Well made. Though it was little comfort.

He still looked pale, but Ivain straightened his shoulders and pushed away from the table, slowly pulling himself together. “You made a mistake today. I won’t deny it. But everyone that has ever been forced into a position of leadership has made mistakes. I know you want to find Taly. I do too. But these people are still looking to you. You still have a duty to them. One that is not yet fulfilled.”

That word—duty. Skye felt the weight of that word settle into his bones.

Ivain was right. Staying was thesanedecision. It was therightchoice.

Even if he hated it.

Skye gave a shaky nod of his head. “Sir.”

Ivain breathed out a sigh. He looked relieved. “I sent Aiden with a comm,” he said a bit more gently. “He’s due to check in tonight.”

“Okay,” Skye said, and Ivain gave his shoulder a squeeze before retreating to the back of the tent.

Okay, he would wait. Okay, he would stay behind.

A crystal on the glamour interface flashed, indicating that the memory chit was full.

Skye pulled it closer, tapping a finger against the glass.