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Tipp cried out then, as Navok’s blade dug deeper, the blood no longer a drop, but a smear.

“NO!” Kiva cried, rushing forward, but she stopped at the warning look in Navok’s eyes.

“There are four people in this room who you care about enough to not want to see them dead,” the king said. “We will go through each of them if we must. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go after him.” His gaze flicked to the window, and Kiva looked out, doing a double-take when she saw the gilded bridge that had been empty before, but was now covered with Gray Guards and anomalies, with only a handful of silver Royal Guards and black-leathered soldiers barely managing to hold them off. As she watched, a wall of water rose from the Serin and slammed into half of them, causing warriors from both Evalon and Mirraven to tumble straight over the railing, while others merely paused their attacks to brace, before continuing on with even more fervor.

All of that, Kiva took in within the space of a blink, because it was the person fighting at the center of it all who captured her horrified notice, right where Navok had indicated.

“Jaren,” Oriel whimpered, seeing his brother for the first time in over three months.

Kiva had thought she couldn’t feel any worse after seeing Tipp with a blade at his throat, after hearing that Caldon was —

No.

She slammed down on that thought, knowing she couldn’t deal with it on top of everything else. For now, she had to live in denial. Caldon would be the first to tell her to concentrate on the challenge in front of her, and anything else could come later.

Her fear, her panic, her dread — that was what had to hold Kiva’s attention right now, none of which she’d thought could possibly become worse.

Until she’d seen Jaren on that bridge.

Because at the eager look in Navok’s eyes, Kiva knew exactly what he would do if she didn’t obey.

One by one, she would be forced to watch everyone she loved suffer and die until she gave Navok and Galdric what they wanted. She would never survive the guilt, the heartache. But she also knew that if shedidobey, if she used the Hand to give them magic, if she chose the people she cared about over the entire kingdom, the entirecontinent... nothing would be able to stop them.

And that would be her fault.

“It’s all right, Kiva,” Ariana said, barely a whisper. “Sarana knew this might happen one day. Everything will be all right.”

Kiva only shook her head miserably, because Ariana was wrong —nothingabout this was “all right.” But when she turned to the queen, expecting to see a reflection of her own dismay, all she found was an unnatural calm in Ariana’s eyes, almost like the queen was trying to send her a message, but Kiva couldn’t understand what that message was.

With their gazes still locked, Ariana pulled the Signet off her finger and held it out.

Kiva stared at it like it was a snake.

“Take it,” Galdric ordered, stepping closer.

Navok remained where he was, his hold on Tipp unyielding, his anomaly guards close at his sides.

Kiva didn’t take the ring.

Couldn’ttake the ring.

But then Tipp cried out again, and the cut on his neck grew deeper, blood now dribbling slowly down his collar.

Kiva snatched up the ring.

“Wait, it needs her magic first,” Galdric remembered. To Ariana, he said, “You know what to do. But don’t think of trying anything else. Just the ring.”

The queen nodded and reached out to touch the band. There was no large gem like the others in Kiva’s palm; instead, the gold was stamped with the Vallentis crest — the identifying mark of the Royal Signet — and embedded with tiny blue sapphires that Kiva had never noticed before, all of which came alight with Ariana’s magic before they faded once more. The whole time, the queen continued to hold Kiva’s gaze, speaking to her without words.

But Kiva still didn’t know what she was saying.

Until Ariana’s gaze shifted, for the briefest of seconds. Barely a flicker of movement, not enough for anyone else to see, but enough for Kiva’s own eyes to widen.

Sarana knew this might happen one day.

Thoughts and memories and questions slammed into Kiva, Ariana’s words holding new meaning now, even if she hardly dared to believe, hardly dared tohope.

“You know what to do, Kiva,” Galdric said, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. “Put the rings on and push your magic into them — and then into me. That’s all it will take. As easy as breathing.”