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He opens his mouth, but I shake my head as I fasten the strap of my quiver across my torso and grab my bow.

“I can’t explain right now.”

My eyes pass around the room for anything else that could be useful. I grab an old satchel of Korvin’s. “Do you think I can borrow this?”

He bobs his chin quickly. When I face him, he bites his lip. I bend and lay my hands on his shoulders.

“Listen, Korvin. You need to keep stepping up like you’ve been doing. Mother is going to need you. She already depends on you so much.”

His head nods again. “I will.”

Something about his determination eases the anxieties that wrapped around me when I walked in on Myrzeth’s tantrum. I drag in a deep breath and allow my heart to slow down a beat.

“I’ll do everything I can to come back. I promise. But I don’t know when that will be. Right now, there’s someone who needs me.”

“I understand.” He puffs out his chest a little. When did he get so tall? “You won’t have to worry about anything here.”

I study him, surprised to find myself holding back tears for the first time this evening. I pull him to my side with my free arm.

“Elyon watch over you, brother.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, I dash out of the room and down the stairs. Mother stands by the door, holding out a parcel wrapped in waxed cloth. “We don’t have much right now, but this should get you through a day or two.”

Taking it from her carefully, I slip it into the satchel. A pang of guilt stabs my chest. I know how much this will cost my family.

When I look up, she is right in front of me, throwing her arms around my neck and embracing me the way she did when I was small.

“Elyon keep you safe,” she whispers into my ear. I pull back in surprise. She’s never spoken the ancient deity’s name before. “Now, go.” She motions toward the door with her chin.

Dangerously close to losing my resolve, I duck out the door before I can change my mind.

I’ve only gone a few steps when I hear a voice that infuses weakness into every bone of my body.

“Belwyn.”

My father steps out of the shadows, right into my path. I cringe when I see his muscular hands tightened around his broadsword. Do I really have to fight him? Now?

But one look at his sour face and I know that’s not what this is about.

“What you said earlier today—”

“I’m not apologizing for that,” I say.

His mouth tenses dangerously but soon eases. “No, I don’t want you to.” He moves closer to me, a tortured mind shining out through his hazel eyes. “I wanted to tell you that—that you were right.”

I throw out a hand against a railing to steady myself. “What?”

“You’re strong. And I ... I don’t deserve you.”

My mouth sags. I clear my throat and clamp it shut. I can’t do this right now.

He seems to understand and doesn’t push it. His eyes travel over me, taking in the jacket, cloak, provisions, quiver, and bow. They rest on my face. “If you’re going out there ...” His fingers twitch around the sword hilt. “Well, what kind of man would you be if you didn’t have one of these?”

Haltingly, he thrusts the sword out, as if it takes every bit of his resolve to do so. When I don’t take it immediately, he grunts and pushes it against my chest. I barely manage to clutch it before he lets it drop. While my mind is still trying to comprehend what happened, he brushes past me, toward the house.

I stand there, stupefied, until his hand lands heavily on my shoulder.

“I know I wasn’t the best Foremost, and an even worse father, but I want you to know I would have never stooped to such animalistic tactics.”