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“Nor is she yours, it seems.” Phineas’s eyes dart to hers and back again. “How long have you had her, Ryon?”

Ryon says nothing, his stare blank, his fists clenching.

Phineas groans, shaking his head. “Deshun, tell me you do not mean to run away with her. You’re not sostupid.”

Ryon sighs. “Neither are you, Phineas, so you know I will not allow you to leave this place if I think you’ll betray me to the King.”

The Glacian bristles, his wings twitching. It takes a long time for him to speak again and when he does, his voice is pained. He seems to battle with rage, struggling to contain it. “You’re a fool to think they will not come for you. They’ll find you before you can bed this girl, if that’s what you plan.”

Dawsyn growls and Phineas eyes her again.

His jaw flexes manically. “Come back to Glacia. We must bring the girl.”

“No,” Ryon says.

They stare obstinately at each other.

The Glacian named Phineas eyes Ryon like he has removed a mask, revealed himself. “Then, let us leave her here, if you are partial to sparing her. We can tell the King that she evaded us all. I saw the blood from the skies. We will say that she killed the other two.”

“Shedidkill them,” Ryon answers, “and I would rather you kill me here, brother, than return to that place.”

Phineas sags, his hands scrubbing violently over his face. “This is the answer to your woes, Ryon? Running from your kingdom? Abandoning your position in the court? The oneIleveraged for you?”

“And I have thanked you for helping me, Phineas. Without you, I wouldn’t have stepped foot inside the palace, I would never have been granted the opportunity of the slopes.”

Phineas stills, fresh anger befalling him. “This wasalwaysyour plan? You used me as a means for escape?”

“You gave me a chance at a better life and for that, I’m in your debt. So, I will not kill you if you try to stop me, brother, but if youdostop me, be certain it’s for good. I will not return to Glacia alive.”

Phineas’s breaths become ragged. “You leave me little choice!”

“There’s always a choice. You taught me that.”

“I’ll be executed for turning my head.”

“There is no reason they would ever know. Kesh and Theodore are dead on the slope. No one else has seen us. Go back to the palace and tell them nothing.”

“I thought you had more sense than your father, Ryon. I was wrong.”

Ryon’s shoulders fall an inch. “Perhaps, but I chose my course long ago.”

“And the girl?”

“Just someone I do not want on my conscience.”

Phineas clutches his hair. “Please do not do this, Ryon. You can’t change Glacia from the outside. The only change comes from within.”

Dawsyn listens intently, her brow furrowed, caught between their wills.

“We both know Glacia will never bend, brother. We’ve known it for some time now. I will not live and die on the hill of their self-proclaimed divinity.”

Phineas laughs humorlessly, his tight voice bouncing through the forest. “You self-righteous shit. You throw your life away!”

“There is no life for me there, Phineas. You well know it.” Ryon rises slightly.

Phineas swears, baring his teeth. “It is only for your father that I do not clip your wings and haul you back to the castle,” he says, his face pinched. “He wouldn’t have wanted this.” Spreading his white wings, the Glacian spares Dawsyn one last glance before spitting out his departing words. “You’ll drop the girl off a cliff if you have any sense left.”

Dawsyn makes to grab for her ax at Ryon’s belt, but before she can pull it free, Phineas is gone. Only the sound of his leaving remains, echoing in the open spaces of his wake.