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Kolfinna smiled at the sight of him. How many restless nights had Katla spent whenever Kolfinna had been sick or injured herself doing something reckless? She missed those days, but that feeling quickly passed.

“Come here, sit!” Eyfura ushered toward the stool. “Gosh, it’s so good to see you walking without a limp! I know it was resolved in the ruins, but it’s still amazing to see! Runes really are something else, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they really are.” In the few weeks that had passed since her leg had been healed, Kolfinna had gotten used to having normal function of her leg once more, and not being in crippling pain all the time, but from time to time, she was amazed at how it had healed. It reaffirmed her belief that there was still so much she didn’t know about runes and their capabilities.

Kolfinna sat beside the bed. “How are you doing?” she asked.

“Much better than before, but Nollar won’t let me leave until I’m one hundred percent, so I’ve been a prisoner here.” She laughed and reached forward to squeeze Kolfinna’s hand. She suddenly became serious. “I heard what happened. Thank you, by the way. You saved my life.”

“Oh, please don’t thank me.” She didn’t know whether to focus on Eyfura, Nollar, or the marbled white floor. “It’s my fault that even happened. If I hadn’t released Revna …” The words lodged themselves in her throat and she found it hard to finish. “None of this would’ve happened.”

Eyfura tightened her grip on her hand. “No, it was bound to happen. Mímir was a traitor all along. If he didn’t betray us at that moment, he would’ve done it at another moment. Either at those ruins or on another mission. Things could’ve beenmuchworse.”

Kolfinna wasn’t too convinced, but she nodded nonetheless. “I suppose … I still would like to apolo—”

“No, no! Don’t say the word.” Eyfura grinned. A gentle breeze carried the smell of lavender throughout the room, rustling the starch-white curtains and filling the space between them. “You saved my life, so I don’t want to hear anything other than you proudly saying that you saved me.”

She had been so anxious to talk to Eyfura that she had almost forgotten how infectiously warm her personality was. Like the warmth and sweetness of honey on a summer day.

Kolfinna smiled. “All right.”

“Great!” She clapped her hands together. “Now, have you talked to Captain Asulf at all?”

“I have,” she said. “I gave him my side of what happened and we talked for a bit.”

“About?”

Kolfinna shrugged and ran her hands over the thinning material of her brown dress. This one was actually hers; the Royal Guards had been gracious enough to go back to her old apartment and bring back her clothes.

When Eyfura continued drilling holes into her, Kolfinna sighed and answered, “Mímir, the next steps. That sort of thing. I didn’t want you to worry, so I didn’t want to bring it up.”

Eyfura leaned forward. “Worry about what? Captain Asulf isn’t telling me anything for the same reason, and because he wants me to focus on recovering.”

“Unfortunately, Mímir was taken by the military,” Kolfinna said. “They didn’t think we would be able to be unbiased enough to get information out of him, and there was the fear that others within the Royal Guard sided with him and Ragnarök, so he’s in military custody.”

Eyfura’s clenched the white sheets surrounding her thighs. “Seriously? That’s not fair! He was one of our own, so it only makes sense that we figure out the extent of his treachery.”

“That’s what Captain Asulf said, but apparently the commander-in-chief insisted on taking him.”

“Well, that’s a bummer.” Eyfura slumped against the wall and blew out air. “And what about the ruins? Will they be excavated?”

“Yes, they will be. I’m not sure who’ll be on that mission. None of the details are exactly clear.” Kolfinna laced her fingers together; there was still so much history inside the ruins she hadn’t uncovered, like those books about Mer-folk and elves. She would love to explore the ruins further, sit down and research all the books, murals, and paintings—but it wasn’t her call to make. Fenris had told her that he couldn’t technically tell her any more than he already had until she was an official Royal Guard, which wouldn’t be until the end of the summer.

“One thing we know for certain is that Revna and Ragnarök are planning forsomething, but who knows when and how it’ll happen,” Kolfinna said. “Captain Asulf isn’t too concerned, because Ragnarök has been around for a while and they haven’t done much, but …”

“But it’s still a worry.” Eyfura reached for her nightstand and picked up a plate of peach slices. “Because they plan to take over this country, and we have no idea what we’re up against.” Eyfura ate one of the slices. “They’ve been silent for a while now, but this is the first big thing they’ve done in a while, isn’t it?” She held out the plate to Kolfinna. “Want a peach?”

“Um, no, thanks …” Kolfinna threaded her fingers together until they turned white.

“What’s with that look?”

“Um, Mímir mentioned that they, Ragnarök, want to ‘awaken’ Queen Aesileif.”

“Yeah, I remember him mentioning that … Which is strange because she should be dead.” Eyfura thought for a moment then shrugged. “But, well, considering how Revna should also be dead, I guess it’s nottoostrange.”

“We’re just going to gather information and try to figure out as much as we can from Mímir,” Kolfinna said. “I’m sure they’ll want me to do something about the research, since I’m the only fae in the Royal Guard now.”

Eyfura’s lips quirked up. “Oh, I heard about that! Are you excited about your instatement ceremony? You’re lucky that it’s coming soon, since the Royal Guards only have it once a year. Can you imagine having to wait a whole year to become a Royal Guard because the timing was off?” Eyfura pointed to Nollar, who was still in a deep slumber despite their conversation. “You’ll have your ceremony with Nollar and his graduating class! Gosh, that’s so exciting!”