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“Like a mirror gate?” Scarlett asked, still moving.

“There wasn’t a mirror gate at the Fellowship, Seastar,” Cassius said, his grip on Cyrus’s thigh finally relaxing some.

“In his rooms maybe?” she pushed.

“We were never allowed in there.”

“I know,” she murmured, speaking more to herself at this point. “I was in there twice. Once as a child and once when I burned the Fellowship down. I suppose I would have noticed a giant mirror, even as an eight-year-old.” She frowned, tugging her robe tighter around herself.

Cyrus cleared his throat. “She’s growing impatient.”

“It’s only been a few weeks,” Scarlett grumbled. “She’s been locked up there for centuries. You’d think this wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“I need to start working on this,” Cyrus said. “If she thinks I’m backing out on this bargain…”

“You cannot break a bargain,” Rayner said. “The Mark will force fulfillment after a time, and if it is physically impossible to do so, you will be cursed.”

“I’m aware, Rayner,” Cyrus sighed.

Not to mention the Sorceress would take her own revenge for failure. He was fairly certain he’d rather cross the Veil than live with any of that.

“Okay,” Scarlett said. “This will be…okay.”

“How do you figure that?” Cassius demanded.

“You and Cyrus can go find this…thing the Sorceress requires. Or, at the very least, figure out what it is.”

“He is your Guardian,” Sorin cut in. “He cannot simply leave you in the middle of war.”

“He can,” she insisted.

“It goes against the Guardian Bond,” Cassius argued.

“Only if I am in danger,” she countered. “You two can go, but after we get the lock. We need a second Traveler with us when we go. Just in case.” Her gaze shifted to Cyrus. “Can you wait? Until Rayner is back to full-strength, and we accomplish this?”

“I mean, yeah, but I can go. This is my mess I created. I can fix it—”

She stopped pacing, turning to face him fully. “We are a family. We choose each other. We claim each other. You said something. Now we face it together. You taught me that, Cyrus.”

He swallowed thickly before nodding his head, eyes falling to his lap.

“You deserve a family, Cyrus,” Cass said before the voices could start up in his mind again. “You deserve people who fight for you.”

“This might be better in the end,” Scarlett said, heading towards her bedchamber. “I was already altering our plans a bit. This isn’t a big deal.”

“What do you mean the plans are changing? Scarlett, where are you going?” Sorin asked, getting to his feet.

She sent him an incredulous look. “I cannot very well scheme in arobe, Sorin. It’s incredibly indecent. I’m going to get dressed.”

Rayner tipped his head back, his eyes falling closed again at the same time Sorin muttered, “That godsdamn tongue.”

They disappeared into the bedchamber, the door snicking shut behind them.

“I’m going to sleep for a few hours. I’ll meet you all later,” Rayner muttered, immediately disappearing among smoke and ashes.

“Cyrus,” Cass said.

“Yeah?” he muttered.