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“It is a possibility, I suppose.”

She snorted. “Before you all start to bother him, this is Silas—my father’s ward. Yes, he is the man from Ari’s fae sleep. Yes, he is my Whisper. Yes, he is the first bond that everyone so vaguely put out there—”

“I knew it.” Valen slapped the table and pointed a finger at Ari. “Fifteen silvershim, you bastard.”

“When the hells did we even make such a gamble, My King?” Ari looked affronted.

“At the docks when we left Gunnar’s vows. Kase, tell him.”

“I recall the bargain included a day of Ari not speaking,” said the Shadow King.

“Then your ears would bleed from longing,” Ari snapped back. “But it doesn’t matter, King Valen has made this up in his head.”

Valen balked. “We said the ward was connected to Cal.”

“Exactly. We said. Truth be told,Isaid. You all followed. If anyone is to win such a gamble, it is me.” Ari leaned against Saga until she wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, her palms on his chest. With a nod and wave, he said, “Carry on.”

Valen leaned closer to his own wife. “He’s acting too much like the king he was when we first met.”

Ari cocked his head. “Magnificent?”

“Annoying.”

Ari grinned like he’d, at last, won the game.

How did Calista keep up with them all when they spoke like this?

“Go on, Cal.” Sol Ferus seemed to be the calmer voice of reason. “What’s happened here?”

“As I said.” Calista glanced over her shoulder. “Silas is . . . well, he’s mine. He’s part of me, my power and his are one. We brought you here because . . . once the first bond was restored, the song that broke us apart was ended. The world returned to the beginning. I didn’t know it would happen, but I wanted you all safe.”

“We saw the beacon,” the choice queen—Elise—said gently. “You did lead us here.”

“Eryka.” Saga glanced to a pale woman who was half asleep on the shoulder of a lithe-looking man. A woman with a scar much like mine carved down her face. Only she did not hide it.

She fluttered her misty eyes, looking to the Raven Queen.

“You keep saying that same thing,” said Saga. “Back to the beginning.”

“Stars speak when they speak,” the fae woman returned.

“We’ve heard it a great deal too,” Calista offered, then paused for a moment. “And the tale was always meant to return to the first bond that began it. I’ve been . . . well, I’ve . . .”

Her voice kept trailing off.

I am terrified. Her words were a poisonous dart to my chest.

Unease was heavy on her shoulders, the way they slumped, the way her spine curved, it was clear. There wasn’t a moment of thought or hesitation. It was as though my feet moved on their own accord, with a strange desperation to ease her burden more than I cared for my own.

I touched the back of her arm. Calista jolted, but the smile was damn near instantaneous. It brightened the room, chased away the night.

She let out a long breath and leaned into my side.

“I don’t know how to say it,” she admitted. “In truth, I’m still wrapping it all up in my mind, but . . . I am your storytellers. From the beginning, it has been me. I’ve been on this path, searching for my heart bond since the world shattered.”

I squeezed her arm with what I hoped was something reassuring.

Sol rose from his seat. “What do you mean, you are our storytellers?”