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Bowing her head, Truly closed her eyes.

The former Door Master was dead. Murdered in cold blood by a queen the universe made certain Truly wouldn’t be able to avoid. Here. Now. Tomorrow or next week. The time frame didn’t matter. At some point, she and Lyonesse would come face-to-face. And from what Westvane said, something must be done.

Wrongs must be righted. The discrimination and inequality needed to stop.

The injustices suffered by those under Lyonesse’s rule couldn’t go unchecked. Everyone, no matter where they came from or what they believed, deserved to be treated with fairness and dignity. The dial needed to be turned, and as things came to a head inside her mind, Truly understood what it meant.

She must step into her calling and be the catalyst for change.

“Courage, Truly,” Westvane murmured.

Courage. The word spilled through her. Yes, above all else…courage.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Truly opened her eyes and met his gaze. “All right. Let’s go.”

“Good, now…”

As he trailed off, his large hands settled on her shoulders. The heat of his palms seeped through her jacket, invading muscles and bones, then turned tact to coast along her spine. A low-grade hum buzzed over her temples.

Truly released the breath she’d been holding.

“Deep breath,” he whispered. “Hold it — one, two, three, four… let it go. Take another.”

She obeyed, beginning to relax beneath his touch.

“Again.”

Inhaling deep, she counted off the second, then exhaled long and slow.

“Perfect,” he said, his deep voice dipping even lower. “Close your eyes.”

She hesitated, her gaze drilling into his, assessing. No malice that she could see. Not a hint of anything unspoken. Just the steadying force of his dark eyes. After a second spent searching, she did as he asked. Her eyelids fell, lashes fluttering against her skin.

Westvane murmured in approval.

She followed his voice, allowing its cadence to draw her deeper.

“See anything?”

“Just darkness.”

“Good. It’ll make the spark easier to see.”

“Spark?”

“The burst will be small at first. Infinitesimal. Barely there at all,” he said, sounding like he stood far away instead of right in front of her. “I want you to go hunting, Truly.”

“Seek and ye shall find,” she whispered, mind beginning to blur.

“Yes,” he whispered back. “Go way, way back… into the deepest recess of your mind.”

Diving deep, she went swimming, stroking through the black, allowing the rise and fall of inky swells to carry her from honed intellect into something softer. Something elemental. Something ethereal. Something she knew lay waiting, dormant in the dark. Westvane’s hands firmed on her shoulders. She welcomed the anchor and drifted, moving closer to the void she sensed, finding comfort in the silence, choosing faith over —

A glimmer winked through the blackness.

Truly turned toward the frayed outer edges of her mind. Faint at first, the light refracted, becoming a revolving beacon from distance shores. Her focus narrowed. Thought propulsion took hold, and she flew toward the small starburst. Its dimension expanded. Tendrils slithered from its center. Fireworks exploded into a colorful array, bursting onto the dark canvas of her mind.

Edges formed. Ridges grew. A light-filled shape grew out of the darkness.