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D awn broke over the horizon, and with it came a summer storm. Cora didn’t know if she had fate or magic to thank for the rain. She had prayed for it. Had sought the element of water with all her heart, begging every blade of grass to lend the meadow its dew, begging the clouds to converge if only for a day. Because rain was exactly what they needed.

Rain to stop the flames from devouring more of the tents, more of the meadow, more of the trees.

Rain to drench the earth where a mangled body had long since burned to ash, where two kings, two lords, and four animals had been laid to rest on a makeshift pyre of lantern oil and crushed wildflowers. It was the only dignity Cora and her companions could deliver those who’d died to become a Roizan. At least no one else would have to witness what had been done to them.

From under the shelter of a wide pine where the fire had yet to spread, Cora watched the downpour. Rain devoured the last remnants of the flames, leaving what had once been Cora’s favorite location scarred with scorch marks and the skeletons of half-eaten tents.

“This is the best I can do.” Larylis’ voice pulled her focus from the meadow. She glanced down at where he crouched beside Teryn. He’d constructed a pallet of canvas tied to two beams of wood—materials that had been salvaged from one of the unburned tents.

Her eyes lingered on Teryn’s slack face, his hollow cheekbones. It broke her heart to see him this way.

But at least he was alive.

He’d taken a breath in her arms, muttered something she couldn’t understand. Since then, his breathing had remained steady, his heartbeat strong. He needed medical attention and rest, but Cora had hope. She’d cling to it. Tether it to her heart and carry it herself if she must.

But she wasn’t alone. Larylis carried the hope with her, and she suspected Mareleau did too.

“Are you ready?” Larylis asked, glancing from Cora to Mareleau. The latter sat at the other side of the tree trunk, hugging her knees to her chest. Ann, Sera, and Breah hovered around her. Larylis had found the three ladies not long ago, when Cora and her companions carried Teryn under the tree to keep him out of the rain. They’d been hiding at the base of Cora’s favorite cliff, trembling, hardly able to say a word. Now they stared sightlessly ahead, arms linked as if desperate for the comfort of another’s flesh.

Larylis rounded the tree and kneeled before his wife. Placing a hand under her chin, he gently lifted her eyes to his. “We must get Teryn back to the castle. We can’t wait for your father’s retinue to find us.”

Mareleau flinched at the mention of her father, her eyes darting toward the charred field. “We’re all that’s left,” she whispered.

Cora’s chest tightened. While Cora had been able to smother her pain, tamping it down beneath a cool blanket of logic, Mareleau’s composure seemed to be clinging to frayed edges. But Mareleau was right. They were all that was left. Not just of the camp, though that was certainly true. Larylis had scouted the area and found no other survivors. He’d located the bodies of two guards in the meadow, both mutilated by the Roizan. In a nearby clearing, he’d found more signs of slaughter—claw marks in the earth, on trees. Blood. Bones. Empty saddles drenched in gore. When Morkai had created his Roizan, he must have let it feed on the witnesses, the councilmen, servants, and horses he’d brought on the hunt.

But Cora was certain Mareleau meant something else—that Cora, Mareleau, Larylis, and Teryn were all that was left to rule their kingdoms. Verdian was gone. Dimetreus too. King Arlous had been the first to perish, at Centerpointe Rock.

It was daunting to think that Menah, Selay, and Khero now lay in their hands.

Mareleau’s eyes were wide and haunted as she reached for Larylis, clinging to the bloodstained collar of his shirt. Cora had bound his wounds as best she could, but he’d need medical attention too. “What will we do?” Mareleau asked.

Larylis lifted a shoulder in a fatigued shrug. “Whatever it takes.”

“But…what will we tell people?” Her eyes flicked back to the meadow. “No one will believe what happened here.”

Cora took a step closer to them. “We’ll tell the truth. Maybe not to the public, but to those we trust.”

Larylis furrowed his brow. “Are you sure that’s wise? Our council will think we’re crazy.”

“Then let them,” Cora said. “I’m tired of lying about magic. I’m tired of hiding the truth and pretending I’m something I’m not. We defeated a sorcerer. A beast. Magic exists in this world, both dark and light. It’s time we stop hiding that.”

Mareleau and Larylis didn’t seem convinced, but it didn’t matter. They could do what they wished, and so would Cora. She was Queen of Khero now. Kevan and Ulrich were no longer around to control her. To tell her what she was and wasn’t qualified to do. The peace pact was broken, as were its constraining terms. She didn’t need anyone’s permission to rule her kingdom.

She owed it to her brother to be queen.

She owed it to herself to be a witch.

She was both, and she wouldn’t shy away from either. Not anymore.

Larylis extended a hand to his wife. “Come. We must hurry.”

They managed to heft the four corners of the pallet between them. Even Mareleau’s three ladies managed to assist, which Cora was grateful for. With her shoulder wounded, she had but one arm to use, and even that pulled on the hastily bound lesion. Their slow pace made Cora’s nerves coil tight. Every second that ticked by was one Teryn endured without proper care. She kept her eyes on his face, his chest, thanking the Mother Goddess for every breath that left his lips. Her relentless focus on him prevented her mind from straying to topics she had even less control over.

Like Valorre.

Her heart ached whenever she thought of him. Whenever she recalled how he’d left the Veil, terrified that he’d forget her.

She understood what had been missing now, why he hadn’t come back. He’d only needed the magic of his horn to exit the fae realm, just like she’d only needed her magic to leave El’Ara. It was as Fanon had said: the Veil had been woven to keep worldwalkers from entering, not from leaving. But while she and Valorre had been able to leave with their own magic, they’d needed each other to enter. Without his horn paired with her worldwalking ability—a combination the Veil couldn’t account for—he hadn’t been able to get back in.

Either that or…

He’d forgotten her.

Stupid .

The voice flooded her heart, her mind, sending her pulse speeding. She was so shocked, she nearly dropped her side of the pallet. Valorre?

You are stupid to think I would forget you. My memory is mightier than that .

She nearly wept as she felt his presence. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel his proximity. He was drawing closer by the second. How did you get here?

His smug facade faded away, replaced with genuine concern. As soon as I crossed the Veil, it disappeared. There was no wall. Only forest in our world. I knew you’d find a way out, so I tried to return home, to where you’d go. I’ve been running for a day, trying to get here, but I was lost. I didn’t know where the Veil had brought me .

He’d been running for a day. To her, it had only been hours since she’d left El’Ara. How did you find your way?

She found me. Led me in the right direction.

She?

In answer, a rhythmic beat pulsed in the air. Cora glanced up in time to see Berol making her descent toward the pallet. Sera squealed, pulling her hands from the pallet as Berol landed on one of the wooden carrying posts.

“There you are,” Larylis said. Though he tried to grin, the expression was strained. Empty. “Where have you been?”

Her wings were splayed as she shuffled down the length of the pallet until she reached Teryn’s face. She tilted her head side to side, a barrage of frantic chirps erupting from her beak. She hopped from the post to the canvas, then gave Teryn’s cheek a tentative peck, right over the fading scar that marred his flesh. There was something apologetic in the way she nipped at him. Had Berol given him that wound? Perhaps after Morkai had taken possession? Cora recalled how the falcon had brought Larylis’ letter to her in the tower room instead of Teryn.

She nibbled his cheek again, this time a little harder. Cora was almost of a mind to shoo her away lest she injure him, but a soft smile flicked over Teryn’s lips. “Berol.” His voice was soft, a creaking whisper.

“He’s awake!” Larylis pulled up short, forcing the rest of them to stop as well. Slowly, they lowered the pallet to the ground. The rain had ceased, and the morning sun was just beginning to peek through the clouds.

Cora ran to his side and brushed his silver hair off his forehead. “Teryn.”

He caught her hand with his. His grip was loose, but he managed to squeeze her palm. “Cora…I…”

She hushed him. “Just rest. You’re safe now. He’s gone.”

The memory of the broken crystal flashed in her mind. She’d watched it crackle and burn after she’d thrown it in the flames until there was no sign of it left. She had to trust that meant Morkai’s soul was no longer able to possess anyone.

He spoke again, brow furrowed, but his words were too quiet to hear. She leaned closer and smoothed her hand over his hair. Berol chirped, nipping his ear. “It’s going to be all right. It’s over.”

He blinked, and his green eyes gained steady focus as they locked on hers. “I…I don’t think it’s over.”

Her hand went still in his hair. “What do you mean? Is Morkai?—”

“He’s gone, but…but I don’t think he was the last threat to us. His father…Darius…Elvyn prince.”

The name sent her stomach bottoming out. “Morkai’s father was Darius?”

“Who’s Darius?” Larylis said, leaning closer, but neither Cora nor Teryn took their gazes from each other.

“King Darius of Syrus,” Teryn said. “He’s the reason Morkai found Lela. Found you.”

“King Darius of Syrus,” Cora echoed. She’d heard that name. Her mother had been from the Southern Islands. She’d told Cora tales of Syrus, Zaras, and the other isles, though even if she’d had no personal knowledge of the location, the Southern Islands were hardly a secret. Selay had exclusive trade with them. Cora was certain Syrus’ king—Darius Solaria—was still alive. But how did Teryn know about this?

“There’s so much more I need to tell you,” Teryn said. His face twisted with a wince.

She brushed her hand over his hair again. “Me too. But we have time.”

He nodded, lashes fluttering shut, and sank back into slumber.

She exchanged a glance with Larylis, then Mareleau and her ladies. In wordless agreement, they hefted the pallet back up. Berol took off into the sky, soaring toward the castle.

I’m almost there , Valorre said.

She could feel him even closer now, a comfort that mingled with her growing dread.

If what Teryn had said was true, the danger they faced last night—and at Centerpointe Rock before that—might only be the beginning. Her mind whirled over possibilities.

A broken prophecy.

A fae realm, dying without its heart.

A true Morkara who would tear the Veil and make El’Ara whole.

And the mother who would bear this child, this savior…

She was no closer to breaking the spell that had been cast upon her.

Did that mean Morkai had won after all?

She shook her head, focusing instead on the rise and fall of Teryn’s chest and the feel of Valorre’s growing nearness. It was all she could do to face the crushing pressure as the fate of two worlds settled upon her shoulders.