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Anya did too. ‘That was one of Artos’ camps. We’d defeated a host of shadow wraiths. The people you think were being tortured were shadow-touched, transitioning for the first time. You watched the same thing happen to me in that cave. There was nothing to be done. They had to feel it. Accept it.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I didn’t hurt them.’

Thea flushed. ‘I know that now.’

‘Do you?’ Anya pressed, piercing her with what she now knew to be their mother’s eyes.

‘Yes,’ Thea told her, lifting her chin. ‘So while Wren and I were tucked away safe and sound at Themzarr, you were…’

‘Rallying the shadow-touched, tracking the tears in the Veil, hunting monsters… There were more and more of them, and not just wraiths. I had a small force loyal to me when we heard the rumour about a colony. After a time, I met Dratos…’ Anya heaved a sigh.

‘I wish I could have been with you, fighting by your side,’ Thea said.

A sad smile graced her sister’s lips. ‘I’m glad you weren’t. I’m grateful that you were safe at the fortress. It helped, knowing you and Wren weren’t in the same kind of danger, though I know your time there was less than perfect… I came back once, you know – back to Thezmarr. I was so desperate to see you and Wren. Dratos didn’t want me to go, said it was too big a risk, but… I had to.’

‘When was this?’

‘I’m not sure… We weren’t quite teenagers yet,’ Anya told her. ‘Audra and Farissa had everyone out playing on the Plains of Orax. Wren was practically glued to Farissa’s side, but you… you had broken off from the group and were wandering on your own, a stick in hand. I think you were pretending it was a sword,’ Anya said with a note of fondness. ‘I used storm magic to get your attention, to coax you into the woods. You followed those little bolts of lightning so confidently, I was sure everything would be the same as it always had been. But when you were only a few feet away, I realised… the world I could offer was fraught with nothing but danger and darkness. Thezmarr was safe. Thezmarr, with its Guardians and Warswords, was light… You and Wren deserved that, not the half-life I led in the shadows, hunted and hated.’

‘So you didn’t show yourself? You didn’t speak to me?’

Anya shook her head. ‘I left. It was the last time I saw Thezmarr.’

‘And us.’

‘And you,’ Anya agreed.

‘I don’t remember it – following storm magic into the Bloodwoods.’

‘I wouldn’t expect you to. I don’t think you even knew what you were following. It was subtle, not like the display you put on in Notos.’

The mention of Tver’s capital made Thea’s blood run cold, the brutal battle seared into her mind. ‘Why did you try to take Wren?’

‘I wanted to take you both. To get you out of their clutches and explain everything.’

‘Funny way to go about it.’

‘I’ll admit, I could have thought it through in a bit more detail.’

‘No shit,’ Thea scoffed.

‘But then Dratos went and got himself shot with an arrow, courtesy of your friend, I believe? And I knew if I took Wren without you, you’d never forgive me.’

‘You’ve got your work cut out for you with Wren as it is.’

‘Any advice?’ Anya quipped.

Thea gave a laugh. ‘Get her a massive bag of weird plants and potions.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Anytime.’

And in that brief exchange, Thea’s heart ached for what might have been. Ached with loss for the years that Artos had stolen from her and her family, and with fury for what had been done to her sister.

Anya’s pained expression mirrored her own.

‘I’m sorry.’ Thea’s words came out as a whisper. ‘I’m sorry for how it all happened. And I’m sorry we weren’t there for you.’

‘You’re here now,’ Anya replied.