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“Mama told me,” she whispers. She turns away to wash, and I finish setting up camp. When she returns, she takes a seat next to me on a fallen log.

“Here.” I hand her some bread and soft cheese.

“Thank you.”

I push more of my power into the fire, adding another branch. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Fliora’s eyes fill with tears, but she sniffs, holding them back. “They came after you left. Mama was still unwell, and Laysa was helping her to bed. They burst through the door and up the stairs.” Her gaze turns stark. “Laysa pushed me into the closet and slammed the door shut. But I could hear.”

My chest aches for her. She must have been so scared.

My fault. It’s my fault.

“They wanted to know where you went, and Mama wouldn’t tell them, so they…they killed Laysa first.”

I close my eyes. There’s no apology to give, nothing that can ever make up for what she has lost.

“They said they would find you anyway. And then they cut Mama in the stomach. When they left, I ran from the closet.” She hangs her head. “I should have come out earlier. I could have helped her.” Tears roll down her cheeks and I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“No.” My voice is hoarse. “If you had left the closet, you would have died. Do you understand that? Your mama would have been so upset with you if you didn’t stay hidden.”

She’s quiet for a long time. Eventually, her hunger must begin gnawing at her, because she takes a bite of bread. “Mama said I was to find you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before she died.” She places the bread in her lap, gazing into the fire. “She told me to find you.”

They left her alive. A sword to the gut is a terrible death. And the bastards left her alive to bleed out in front of her daughter.

Likely I should be telling Fliora that her mother is in a better place, or maybe that her mother didn’t suffer. But all I can give her is the same promise I would have wanted. “I’ll make them pay.”

She nods, and more tears trickle from her eyes. My throat aches, and I suck in a slow breath. Why would her mother have sent her to me? I’m being hunted by hundreds of ruthless men.

What were you thinking, Shaena?

“Do you have other family?”

She nods. “My aunt lives in Ferelith. Where we used to live.”

It’s on my way, just a few miles from here. “I’ll take you to her.”

“Mama said I was supposed to stay with you.”

“Fliora…the dark god. He’s hunting me. He won’t hurt you if he finds you with me, but he’s still dangerous. And the soldiers…you know what they’ll do to you.”

“I can hide you from the dark god. It won’t last for long, but it will cloak you from his senses.”

I stare at her. “You can do that?”

A tiny smile. “My grandmother could do it too. She protected women from bad men who wanted to find them.” Her smile drops. “She died too.”

I wince. “I’m sorry. Uh, are you doing it now?”

“Of course.” She blinks at me with those huge blue eyes. “Otherwise he would have found you already.”

Calysian

I search for Madinia for hours, before I’m finally forced to set up camp in the forest. Fox is tired, and I won’t risk him breaking a leg in the dark.