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“We waited there for days, in case you’d been delayed. Barrd thought you must be dead, but I refused to assume the worst. So, we split up again. Sora and I flew south to search for you, while your brother and Barrd continued to look for the creature and the stone.”

I felt a lump rising in my throat, unsure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. All those lonely nights imprisoned in the mines, I’d lain awake, wondering if anyone missed me, if anyone was looking for me. I hadn’t been abandoned after all.

“Months passed like this. We’d split up to search and meet back at the Market of End. But our efforts were fruitless. Until several weeks ago. Your brother showed up at our rendezvous point three days late with news. He said he’d been searching in the far east and saw the creature flying in and out of the Wastes to a mountain that he said looked like a tall spine. We’re certain that’s where the Azurstone is hidden.”

“Wait, what are the Wastes?” I said.

“It’s a magic dead zone along the eastern border of Eastlandra. The perfect place to hide a stone of power if you didn’t want anyone to find it. The landscape is desolate and unforgiving. Like these bramblelands, but instead of thorns, it’s a maze of razor-sharp rocks, steep cliffs, and sand traps. Since we wouldn’t be able to use our magic to fly, we’d be on foot, and your brother knew none of us would survive without help. So, he exhausted all his resources—silver, threats, force—just to findthismap.” Skyler reached for my hand. I didn’t pull away as he turned over my palm, gently tracing the lines of the map with his thumb.

“This is the only way to navigate the Wastes,” Skyler continued, watching me from under his dark lashes. “When a suli map like this is created, all other identical maps vanish because they are magically absorbed into it. With only one map in existence, we knew we had to protect this from the White Widow. So, your brother and I took this map to a Magi in the marketplace and asked her to put a spell on it so that only those with Zavien blood could decipher it. That’s why you see the symbol of our tribe in the middle there. The next day, your brother, Sora, and Barrd took the map and flew to the edge of the Wastes to use it. I stayed behind to … follow a different lead.” His expression darkened slightly.

“What lead?”

“When we approached the Magi’s tent to purchase the spell, I overheard the customer inside say the word ‘Zavien.’ Your brother didn’t believe me because few people in Eastlandra have ever heard of our tribe, but my gut was unsettled. When the others took off to the Wastes, I stayed behind to follow the guy who came out of the Magi’s tent. He left the marketplace and traveled south. To Malengard.”

“Jeddak,” I breathed, my pulse pounding.

Skyler nodded. “I didn’t follow him inside the black walls, instead returning to the Market of End to wait for the others.”

“Are you sure he said the word ‘Zavien’?” Jeddak had never asked what tribe I was from. Was that because he already knew?

“Truthfully, I wasn’t sure, but before I could find out more, Sora and Barrd returned. They were beaten badly. Your brother wasn’t with them. At the edge of the Wastes, they’d encountered a fierce band of tribeless. The tribeless took your brother into the Wastes, but Sora had managed to save the map.”

“I don’t understand—why didn’t you use this map to go find him and the Azurstone in the Wastes?”

“We tried to, but none of us could decipher it. So, we took it back to the Magi. Only after offering her every secret we could bear to part with …” He exhaled, looking as if whatever secret he’d bartered had pained him. “… we learned the spell she’d put on the map wasn’t what we’d asked for. It made the map readable only by your brother and those who share his blood, not all Zaviens. After that, we became more desperate to find you, praying you were still alive.”

“But I’d disappeared months ago.”

“And we’d searched everywhere in the south … except Malengard. By then, we’d heard rumors of the Rathalans using tribespeople for their workforce. I became convinced that we would find you there. But Barrd thought it was too dangerous to search Malengard. He wanted to go back to the Wastes and try tonavigate it on foot. He and Sora argued about it one night, and that next morning, she was gone and the suli map was missing.”

“She came to rescue me,” I said, finally starting to understand the full story.

“I know,” Skyler said solemnly. “But she never came back.”

“It was my fault,” I said, my voice a mouse squeak. I was the reason that Meat had locked a collar on Sora, preventing her from flying away. Then I’d left her behind in the mines to die. The guilt washed over me like a flooding river.

“Raven, look at me,” Skyler said, touching my shoulder. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. Do you understand? You came here to find the Azurstone so you could save our tribe. Sora knew the dangers of this mission and of entering Malengard. If youdidremember her, you’d know that nothing would have stopped her from risking her life to save you.”

“We have to go back for her,” I said, knowing how impossible it sounded, but I couldn’t let her die like Hen had. If she wasn’t already dead. My eyes burned at the thought.

He nodded. “We will. I promise we will. Barrd and I have already been working on a plan.”

We sat on the small porch in silence for a moment, like we were both holding vigil for the safety of our friend.

“So how did you find me at the Ruins of Javan after all this time?” I said, watching my breath crystallize in the cold air.

Skyler seemed surprised by this question. “I’ve been following you since you arrived at the Market of End with the Kovak.”I thought you knew,his words seemed to say.

“Wait,what?”

“Several nights after Sora disappeared, I spotted the Kovak in the marketplace again—but this time you were with him. I couldn’t believe it. We’d been searching for you for months, and there you were, alive and safe.”

“I don’t understand—why didn’t you come talk to me then?” I tried not to sound angry, but I couldn’t help feeling betrayed that he’d waited so long to tell me all this.

He rubbed his neck. “I did. I mean, I tried to. I approached you in the avenue when you were headed toward the market center. You looked directly at me, but you didn’t recognize me. You didn’t know me from a stranger.” There was a deep hurt hidden in his voice. I wondered if it was the same hurt I’d been feeling since Jeddak had stormed off earlier. “So, I decided to follow you to see if I could figure out what was going on.”

“That wasyou—” I said, tying together a string of events. “You were in the back of the tavern that night. And you tried to stop me from talking to the Magi.”