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Don’t think so. He nodded at the forest outside.He knows better than to inform Helenka and risk our alliance again, and if the rest of the alves had known, Edored would already have shown up to duel me over your honour.

A cold fist clenched around my heart. Of course Edored’s first instinct would be to blame Creon – that was virtually a national sport among the alves. But sooner or later, even he would have to accept that I wasn’t an innocent victim here, and if Beyla’s reaction gave any indication of what I could expect …

I doubted I’d spend much of my time at card tables in the coming months.

‘Let’s be a little discreet, then,’ I said, voice small. ‘No need to spread the news to the nymphs yet. And it’s probably better for everyone’s nerves if I don’t spend half of our time in public glued to your face.’

A shadow slid across his face even as he nodded – just a glimpse, like a cold draft sneaking in through closed curtains. Out of nowhere, Zera’s words returned to me.Love doesn’t like to be taken for granted …

I firmly shoved that thought away. It was just for a few days. Just to minimise the imminent damage. Just to keep our allies happy.

Which sounded suspiciously like the other arguments I’d been repeating to myself for weeks.

I pushed that thought aside, too.

‘I should start packing,’ I said, sitting up and shoving to the edge of the bed with a hand on his thigh. ‘Don’t want to make them wait for me.’

His smile had an edge of bitterness to it.Naxi is still sleeping. You’ll be fine.

But Naxi hadn't lied to her friends for months or potentially ruined their already fraught relationships and opened the gates to all the disastrous consequences of broken alf bonds. I packed my bag with trembling hands, flinching at every voice that passed by outside. Tared showed up, sounding curt. Naxi’s melodious rattling emerged from her hut minutes later. Creon, of course, never made a sound, and yet I knew the exact moment he came out by the silence that rippled across the clearing – a silence filled with icy glares that I could feel even through my safe shield of intertwined branches and beaded curtains.

My stomach turned again as I pressed my last belongings into my backpack and tied it shut.

I had to step out – Ihadto. But moving my legs felt no more doable than moving Zera’s bag of grief, and I postponed it until Naxi loudly declared she was ready to go and I truly couldn’t wait a minute longer.

The looks were the worst part.

I could feel Tared and Beyla’s gazes on me the moment I stepped into view – the two of them watching me like hawks even as they pretended to be deep in conversation, taking note of my every movement and every glance with entirely new eyes. Watching me like I was Emelin the liar, suddenly, rather than Emelin the innocent, infatuated child; Emelin the wrecker of peace rather than the saviour of the world. The empty air between Creon and me seemed to have become a physical, living thing, and every single person in that forest clearing was studying it as I dragged myself towards them, unsure of where to look or what to say or how to move.

‘Morning, Emelin!’ Naxi said cheerfully – bless her heart.

Alyra squeaked a welcome too as she flapped out from between the trees and landed clumsily on my shoulder. Tared grumbled some sort of greeting, received a sharp glare from Lyn, and produced something suspiciously close to an eyeroll as he averted his gaze to check the knots on his bag again. Lyn’s freckled face darkened, but she remained silent.

I didn’t dare to look Creon’s way for fear that would be enough to ignite the fuse.My fault. My fault. My fault.The words sung through my mind like a lullaby.

‘So,’ said Naxi in that same unperturbed tone. I wondered how many times she must have played this role in the past, perfectly aware of the storms raging in the minds around her and utterly unaffected by any of it. ‘We’re ready to go, then?’

Without a word, Tared grabbed her wrist and Lyn’s shoulder, then vanished. Beyla muttered a curse at where he had stood, raised her thin eyebrows at Creon and me, and coldly said, ‘Waiting for something?’

‘A promise you won’t stick a sword through me, mostly,’ I said as I stepped towards her.

She let out an unamused huff but held out her hand. I grabbed her wrist, then turned to Creon to wrap my other hand around his elbow.

There was nothing reassuring about the touch with Beyla’s eyes on us.I feel naked, Creon had said, and gods help me, now I understood.

No one spoke another word, and the bright colours of the forest distorted around us as Beyla faded. Away from Tolya – away from the nymph prisons and the spies and the remainders of the Sun fleet – and towards what I desperately hoped would be the endpoint of our journey.

The Cobalt Court.

Chapter 32

Weemergedinalandscape unlike any other I’d seen before.

When the colours dripped back into their natural slots and the ground turned solid beneath my feet again, we were standing on an ink-black beach surrounded by smooth cliffs and elegant sea arches, shreds of mist clinging to the dark stone like fine silk to skin. The air tasted of salt and eucalyptus. Before us, the deep blue expanse of the ocean stretched towards the horizon, where – so faint I didn’t dare to trust my eyes – a broad stretch of land was just visible in the pale sunlight.

The continent.

I drew in a slow breath and turned around. A low mountain range rose farther inland, hiding the sun from view at this time of the day. Waterfalls tumbled from the cliffs, shrouding that side of the bay in plumes of spray and creating the eerie impression that these wild, imposing rock formations had grown from a sky of clouds.