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A humorless laugh escaped my lips. “Just a little off, yeah. But I did find Belin. Or rather, he found me. And his arrow found Miles.” She nodded, staring at his limp figure. “Long, long story. He was behind us on foot. I’m not sure how long it’ll take him to make it here.”

The healer nodded, her eyes scanning the forest before turning back to me. “There are some things you should know.” I turned to her expectantly, sure that nothing she could possibly say could shock me. “I believe I do have…somesoothsaying abilities.”

I blinked at her. Maybe she could shock me.

“Compared to my sister, Ingra, it's not much. I get small snippets here and there, whatever the Saints would like to show me. I have no control over what I see.” She toed at the dirt beneath her boots absentmindedly. “It had been years since they last sent me a vision, Petra.Years.” Her voice had taken on an exasperated edge as her eyes searched mine. “After the wedding, when some of Kauvras’ men had turned on him and ushered King Belin out of the throne room, they came for me in the dungeon. They brought me to a young family who gave me shelter. But this morning, the Saints spoke to me again.”

Had my prayer to Katia been answered? Had she sent Solise a vision? She must have.

The healer’s eyes moved beyond me to where Nell and Whit stood on guard, their backs to us as they scanned the forest. “I saw two soldiers, Enella Augen and Sentos Whitley. They had been with you in Aera, yes?”

“Yes.”

“I knew I had to get to them.” Her face melted into a warm smile. “I had to sneak around through the melee, but I was able to secure a few herbs and tinctures,” she motioned to her robes, weighted with the tools of her trade. “We crossed paths as they reentered the city this morning.”

I smiled, so grateful to be in her presence again. But then her words sank in, my skin prickling with goosebumps as I recalled her words. “Melee? Still?”

As if on cue, Nell turned to us, the picture of the perfect soldier with a hand resting on the hilt of her sword. “It’s bad.”

“How bad?”

Nell looked to Solise, something unspoken passing between them.

“Tell me,” I urged.

“Alright. I’m just going to say it. Aside from the small legion of soldiers appointed by Kauvras as guards, the residents of Taitha have all been given leechthorn,” Nell said quietly, looking away.

My stomach bottomed out, my heart following along with it as my gaze moved between the healer and the soldier. “No,” I whispered.

Solise’s voice was small as she spoke. “Kauvras’ army of Vacants is now thirty thousand strong.”

I shot to my feet, my hands tangling in my hair as my eyes squeezed shut.No no no no no.Summercut had convinced me to give a merciful, dignified death to ten thousand Vacants, a thought that made the bile rise in my throat and sweat form on my brow. I’d agreed to it, if only for the reason that the innocent people trapped deserved to be free, even if only by death.

But thirty thousand? There was no chance, not even a sliver of a chance. Even if I managed to push the guilt aside, the amount of sheer power it would take me to eliminate thirty thousand barbaric Vacants? It would be almost impossible.

All the conviction I’d built up within myself to take on the role of queen… It was all gone. “I can’t do it,” I whispered, my hands dropping to my sides. “I cannot do this.”

Solise slowly rose, her robes pooling around her feet as she stepped toward me, brows furrowed. “None of that.”

“Solise, Ican’t,” I sputtered. “Did they tell you the plan?” My voice had grown louder as I pointed to Nell and Whit. “Did they tell you what they want me to do?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“And you think I can do it?”

“I think you have to try.”

I stared at the woman, my jaw clenched as the breaths came and left my body with building heat.

But alongside the dread was the truth. I knew there was no other way. They knew that. The first step to defeating Castemont was defeating Kauvras. The only way to defeat Kauvras was to take away his strength, which was the Vacants.

And then we’d have to deal with Castemont. Noros.

“Okay,” I murmured, defeat rolling through me like seasickness. I pushed it aside. If I had no choice but to do it, then I was going to do it right. “Fine. Let’s make a plan.”

Distant footsteps sounded and I swung my head toward the noise. Belin emerged from between the trees, his brow pouring sweat and his chest heaving. My stomach flipped at the sight of him, at the way his eyes found mine and scanned me from head to toe, assessing to make sure I was okay. But I shook his gaze from me. I needed itgone.

“Thank you, Solise,” he panted, his eyes finding Miles’ limp figure on the ground. “Thank you for saving my brother.”