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He stretched his legs out and propped an elbow on the arm of the sofa, resting his chin on his fist. “It was good,” he answered casually.

The glare she sent him had his lips twitching into a lazy smirk.

“Have you seen Cyrus today?”

That had his smirk fading. Cyrus hadn’t left his rooms since he’d returned. As soon as Sorin had awoken, he’d gone to see him. His Second had been sleeping. Cassius had said he’d woken a few times, but only to eat and use the bathing room. He’d hardly spoken since his initial return. Sorin had checked on him multiple times each day since. Most of the time, he was resting, but the times he’d been awake… Sorin knew that look on his friend’s face. It’s how he had looked when Rayner had finally tracked him down as a thief. It’s how he’d looked for years after Thia’s death. He knew what was coming next.

Sorin sighed. “This morning and when I returned from the training arena,” he answered. “I stayed with him for a bit while Cassius bathed and got fresh clothing.”

Scarlett nodded, fiddling with the half-eaten pear. “What do we do?”

“The same thing we always do, Love. We sit with him in the dark until he’s ready to fight for the stars.”

She nodded, taking another bite. “How many times are you going to read that note?”

Her change of subjects yet again had him blinking at her. She was avoiding something.

Razik had returned late in the night, power fully restored and pissy as hell. He’d shoved the note at Scarlett before he’d stalked off to find Cethin.

“I do not like us all separated,” Sorin said. “It is happening far too often these days.”

“Eliza is more than capable of handling this. Their plan is sound.”

“I know this. It does not mean I have to like it. It does not mean I do not wish we could do more from here.”

That deviant glint returned to her eyes. “Care to go on an adventure with me, Prince?”

Finally. She was finally ready to let him in on this.

“Do I need to change for this outing?” he asked, sitting up a little straighter.

She shrugged. “We may encounter a few of those things that attacked me.”

“The beings only Kailia can kill?” he replied dubiously.

“Mhmm.”

He rubbed at his brow with his thumb and forefinger, knowing if he said no, she’d go off on her own anyway. “And where exactly are we going?” Scarlett waved a hand, and a map of starfire appeared in the air between them. Avonleya and their own continent with a few ice crystals scattered across them. “What am I looking at, Love?”

“Locations of mirror gates,” she answered, finishing off the last of her pear.

“The mirror gates,” he repeated.

“Yes.” She pushed to her feet, moving to toss the pear core in the rubbish bin. “I suspect there are more. There has to be, right? Pyry? Other continents in this world that we do not know of?”

He studied her burning map for a moment, trying to figure out where she was going with this. “I suppose there could be. How did you learn of these? We knew of the two on our continent and the one your mother took you to, but the others?”

Her eyes darted to the window in a way that told him she was about to reveal something that would alter everything, and Sorin braced himself for it. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and hands loosely clasped. “Love?” he prompted.

“Saylah told me of them. That night in Shira Forest. But even she does not know if these are all of them in this world,” she answered. “They were once all gateways, as the one in Shira Forest is.”

He stared at her, knowing there was more. But she didn’t offer it, so he said, “And what is your interest in them? Why do they matter?”

“If they once were that, could they not be that again?”

He got to his feet but didn’t move towards her. “Why would you want that? Are we not trying to keep Achaz and others out?”

“Yes, but…” She trailed off, biting her lower lip. “When this is over, maybe it wouldn’t have to stay that way. Maybe beings of other worlds that wish to visit would be able to.”