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F or the rest of the afternoon, Daisy fought to focus on seeing, and drawing, and learning.

It helped that no one seemed to notice Daisy’s ink-stained lips, just as Rosa had predicted — or if they did notice, they didn’t comment. Instead , they greeted Daisy with surprising kindness, and joined Rosa and Julian in showing her their astonishing home. Including everything from cozy common-rooms, to a huge round fighting-pit, to an outdoor bluff with a spectacular view of the sunlit forests and fields all around. And the schoolroom Rosa had mentioned was delightful too, full of cheerful artwork and excited children — and it was apparently run by Kesst’s debonair elder brother Rathgarr , and his mate, a stylish Eziran woman named Geva .

“Oh, you’re Daisy Carlyle !” Geva said, as a stunning smile flashed across her brown face. “ I’ve read several of your books, and we even have one here, don’t we, Rathgarr ?”

This Rathgarr — who bore a striking resemblance to Kesst , despite being noticeably larger — smiled and strode off toward a shelf, and returned with a familiar book. It was the one Daisy and Lew had published two years before, about edible plants from the eastern coast, and Daisy flushed and stammered as Geva and Rathgarr flipped through it together with Rosa and Julian , pointing out their favourite sections and illustrations.

“You have a wonderful gift,” Geva told Daisy , with another smile. “ If you’d ever be interested in speaking to our students, or even leading a few classes, please just let us know. Anytime .”

Daisy again flushed and waved it away — she liked children, but teaching an entire class of excitable students sounded almost worse than being locked in a dungeon. And thankfully she was rescued by Rosa , who gave her a knowing smile, and a reassuring squeeze to her arm. “ No obligation, of course,” she said cheerfully. “ Now let’s go to the garden next, shall we?”

Daisy shot a relieved smile back, and willingly accompanied Rosa and Julian back down through the mountain. Until they reached a clever stone door in the wall, and once Julian had shoved it open, he waved Daisy and Rosa out into the fresh cool air. And into — Daisy’s breath caught — a huge, spectacular garden.

“Oh my gods,” Daisy gasped, as she hugged her sketchbook to her chest, and slowly spun to drink in the sight. The garden was tucked up against the mountain’s south side, fully enclosed by tall, sturdy-looking stone walls — and within the walls, it was bursting with green. Bright , riotous, beautiful green, flooding every available corner, sprawling out of beds and boughs and even massive boulders.

And all amidst the green, there were splashes of other colours, too. Orange marigolds, red raspberries, purple lavender, yellow coneflower and feverfew. And there — Daisy jolted to stillness — there was a scattering of tall, cheerful daisies, lining the edges of a meandering stone-paved path.

Daisy blinked down toward the daisies, as something pricked behind her eyes. Daisies , here, in Orc Mountain’s garden. And surely this was where Filak had gotten the daisies he’d given her, right? And the rest of those flowers, too?

It was one question answered, out of what felt like a hundred, and Daisy couldn’t stop staring at the daisies, while more of those questions suddenly crowded through her thoughts. Why had Filak come here? Why had he propositioned those women? What had happened with his kin, the coin, the blood…

“Welcome to our garden,” cut in a low, pleasing voice, and when Daisy twitched to look, it was a tall, handsome orc with deep grey skin. “ I am Kalfr of Clan Bautul , one of our gardeners here. Is there aught I can help you with?”

Daisy still felt too distracted to properly answer, but Rosa hopped up beside her, and flashed this Kalfr an approving smile. “ Yes , Daisy’s new,” she said, “and therefore, we need a proper garden tour!”

Kalfr didn’t seem at all disconcerted by this demand, and instead smiled and waved them forward into the garden. And with effort, Daisy shoved all those Filak questions away, and attempted to focus on the stunning sights around them. On the astonishing variety of herbs, grasses, shrubs, and fruits — and even the full-grown trees lining the walls, some with ladders and clever wooden platforms built across the upper branches.

It was all highly intriguing, and once Daisy had opened her sketchbook, it was wonderful to draw, too, tempting her back into the beauty and the art. And she even climbed up after Kalfr onto one of the treetop platforms, barely noticing when her already-shabby skirt ripped on a sharp branch. “ This is incredible ,” she told him, as she flipped to yet another fresh page in her sketchbook. “ The lighting up here, it’s just…”

There were no words to describe it, but Kalfr only smiled indulgently, and waited as Daisy rapidly sketched the broad leafy canopy above them, and the dappled light of the late-afternoon sun streaming through it. It was a truly stunning sight, and though her sketch didn’t even begin to convey its true beauty, she could still almost feel the magic glimmering within her pencil, unfurling snippets of light and wonder onto her page.

“You are a very skilled artist,” came Kalfr’s voice, once Daisy had finished her sketch. “ I once knew a woman who drew her own designs for weaving, and I well saw how much time and talent and toil this takes. I could never even attempt such work, ach?”

Daisy gave a grateful smile back toward him, because most people tended to assume art was easy — or worse, that they would instantly become professional artists themselves, if only they’d bothered to try. “ Weavers are absolute paragons of patience and skill,” she told him. “ Does your friend take commissions? I’d love to commission a tapestry of my own someday.”

But at that, Kalfr’s gaze dropped, and he twitched a shrug. “ I am… not certain,” he said thickly. “ We have not spoken in many summers. And ach” — he cleared his throat — “if you are finished for now, I ken you have been sent a gift.”

A gift? Daisy blinked down the ladder, toward where Rosa and Julian were still waiting below, now together with a vaguely familiar dark-haired woman holding a large basket. And when the woman grinned and waved up toward her, Daisy belatedly placed her as Gwyn , the kind midwife who’d previously visited her in the sickroom.

Daisy smiled and waved back, but couldn’t help another uncertain look toward Kalfr , who was looking increasingly morose, and rubbing at his nose. But upon catching Daisy’s gaze, he attempted a smile, and waved her toward the ladder — so she belatedly nodded, and clambered down to join the others.

“This is for you, Daisy ,” Gwyn told her, with a rueful smile. “ From Filak . He caught me inside, and demanded I bring it out to you at once.”

She thrust out the basket toward Daisy , and good gods, it was another one of those food baskets, overflowing with fresh treats and drinks — and also with a few perfectly sharpened pencils, poking out the top. And Daisy stared at it all for a few breaths too long, and then shot a brief, searching glance back toward the mountain, and that firmly closed door in the stone.

“Why?” she stupidly asked, before she could catch it. “ Why didn’t Filak …”

Why didn’t Filak bring it himself , she might well have asked, which was ridiculous, because she’d told him to go away, hadn’t she? She’d told him she hadn’t wanted him. And then he’d sent her this basket anyway, making sure she wouldn’t go hungry without him.

And damn it, Daisy was hungry, her hand instinctively clutching to her stomach, while Gwyn only gave her a too-knowing smile. “ Well , with the sun still up, it’s not as though Filak could bring it out to you himself, right?” she replied, with a purposeful nod toward the setting sun. “ He’s been begging us to fetch you food and flowers from the moment you arrived.”

Wait, what? Daisy gaped at Gwyn for another swaying, stuttering instant, while she frantically pieced that together. Filak couldn’t bring her the basket himself? He’d been begging them to fetch food and flowers? Because of… the sun?

“What do you mean?” Daisy finally demanded, too sharp. “ Are you saying… Filak can’t go out into the sun? At all? Ever ?”

Her swirling thoughts flashed backwards, back to that first time she’d seen Filak , the morning after the cave. That moment when she’d asked him to come away with her. When he’d looked at the sunlight, and refused, again and again.

Nei. Nei , Daisy .

“No, many Ka -esh cannot bear the sun,” came Julian’s low voice, and when Daisy glanced toward him, she realized that he had a hand over his eyes too, blocking out the sunlight. “ Of all five clans, we live the deepest underground, and have thus learnt to live without it — the Nor -ka-esh most of all. I have heard tales” — he grimaced — “of Nor -ka-esh orcs meeting their death, beneath a bright noon sun.”

Meeting their death ? The sun could kill them?! And Daisy couldn’t stop blinking at Julian , at the visible sheen of sweat on his grey face, while her thoughts kept jamming with that memory of Filak . Filak standing trapped inside that cave, stiff and staring and helpless, as those rocks had skittered around his feet.

Filak had… wanted to say yes to Daisy , that morning. He’d wanted to go away with her. He had .

And after that, what had he done? He’d taken Daisy’s hand. He’d pulled off Lew’s ring. And then he’d crushed the ring into dust, and told her… mine . Sólin mín.

As if he’d been trying to tell her. To show her. To convey that she was still his, even if he couldn’t go out into the sun with her. And then, that very night, he’d come back to her again in the dark, and caressed her, and again said… Sólin mín. Daisy mín.

“Well, why don’t you all come join us at our firepit for supper?” cut in Gwyn’s bracing voice. “ You can enjoy your basket there, Daisy , and eat anything else you like, too. And if Filak would like to join us, we also have a sun shelter there, especially for our Ka -esh guests.”

Oh. Daisy shot another brief, searching glance back toward the mountain, because she didn’t actually want Filak to come, right? Didn’t want him to walk out of that door, to share the basket with her, to draw her into his arms and call her sólin mín …

Daisy couldn’t even seem to reply to Gwyn’s invitation, but Rosa eagerly accepted on their behalf, while thoroughly ignoring the part about inviting Filak . And then she steered Daisy off toward the firepit, which indeed had a large canvas shade overhead, along with multiple new people already sitting beneath it.

Daisy hesitated at the sight, but Rosa kept drawing her forward, and then made a cheerful round of introductions. The tall smirking orc was Gwyn’s mate Joarr , and the toddler climbing a nearby tree was Joarr and Gwyn’s son. And the huge scarred orc was named Elgr , the handsome human man cooking over the fire was his mate Thomas , and they also had a son together, a sandy-haired human boy who might have been nine or ten years old.

It took all Daisy’s concentration to greet them all, and try to remember their names. But they all seemed friendly enough, and when Daisy began unpacking her basket of food, and tentatively offered some around, Thomas gladly accepted some meat and milk, and deftly folded them into the delicious-smelling stir-fry he was cooking over the fire.

“So you’re with Filak , then, Daisy ?” he asked her with a smile, as he swept some of his fry-up onto a plate, and passed it over toward her. “ He’s been a great help out at our camp, hasn’t he, elskan ?”

He’d aimed his smile toward the huge scarred orc Elgr , and then handed him not one, not two, but three full plates of food. All of which this Elgr eagerly accepted, beaming fondly back toward Thomas as he balanced the plates on his crossed legs. “ Ach , Filak has done much for the Skai at our camp,” he replied, in a deep, gravelly voice. “ Digging rooms and tunnels, finding gems. He has even begun to teach our younglings at our new school, when he is nearby. Geology , I ken it is called.”

He said the word very carefully, casting a doting glance at his son beside him, and then took a large bite from his fork. While Daisy only stared back toward him, her heartbeat thumping oddly in her chest. Filak had — helped these people? Digging rooms and tunnels? Finding gems? Teaching children? Geology ?!

A sudden vision of Lew tumbled into Daisy’s thoughts, because what would he say? Unbelievable , Daisy . Not only an orc, but another geologist? This is ridiculous and immature behaviour, appallingly unscientific, foolish…

But somehow, Daisy took a deep breath, and shoved Lew’s voice away. Filak had wanted to come away with her. Filak had wanted to reassure her. Filak had helped these people, he was a geologist, he taught children …

And clearly Rosa had also been unaware of that fact, because she’d instantly begun pelting Elgr with questions about Filak’s qualifications, curriculum, and teaching methods, and demanding why he’d never once offered to teach at Orc Mountain’s school. To which Elgr looked increasingly bewildered, and continued stuffing his face with food to avoid answering.

“So how did you and Filak first meet, Daisy ?” Thomas broke in, loud enough to carry over Rosa’s voice. “ I know he doesn’t go above ground much, and he usually has a hard time around humans, too.”

It again took Daisy’s overwhelmed brain a moment to follow, because — Filak usually had a hard time around humans? But then again, of course he would, with his black marks and his bare head, his tall gaunt body and his pale angular face. Gods , he would probably cause chaos every time he stepped out in public, and suddenly Daisy felt almost defensive on his behalf, or perhaps even sad.

“No, we first met in a cave, in the dark,” she replied, with an attempt at a smile toward Thomas . “ But then, afterwards” — her smile faltered, as her hand reflexively rose to the metal kraga around her neck, brushing over those familiar raised ridges in it — “he took me as his prisoner, and locked me in a dungeon .”

And gods, why had she said that, now? Why would she bring up such a thing with a perfect stranger? Someone who clearly respected Filak , and trusted him enough to allow him around children ? Around his own son?

But maybe that was exactly why she’d said it, because Thomas ’ sandy brows rose in genuine-seeming surprise — but then he gave her a regretful smile, and shook his head. “ It’s been too often the way, with this war still so fresh between us,” he said. “ I was Elgr’s prisoner at first, too. But we just needed time to get to know each other. To learn the truth for ourselves.”

Oh. The words pitched in Daisy’s chest, shouted loud and strange in her ears. They’d just needed time to learn. To see for themselves.

It shouldn’t have helped, but somehow Daisy smiled back at Thomas , small but grateful, as she finally began eating her delicious dinner. Everyone else seemed to be similarly engrossed, too — except, perhaps, for Kalfr . Who hadn’t seemed to touch his plate, and was glancing between Elgr and Thomas with distinct misery in his dark eyes.

“You are lucky your mate forgave you for this,” he told Elgr , jerking his head toward Thomas . “ Many humans would not forget such wrongs, and we ought not to expect this of them.”

Kalfr had glanced toward Daisy as he spoke, the sadness still glimmering in his eyes. The sight flashing Daisy’s thoughts back to that moment up in the tree, when he’d spoken of his weaver friend. As if he had regrets, too.

“Ach, this is truth,” Elgr replied, as his bulky arm reached for Thomas , and clasped him firmly against his side. “ I thank Skai -kesh each day for my mate’s kind heart. And his sweet scent. And his —”

But he was interrupted by a mushroom, bouncing off his broad nose — apparently thrown by Gwyn’s slyly grinning mate Joarr . And with a loud scoff, Elgr carefully set down his three plates, and then launched himself straight across the fire toward Joarr , swinging for his face.

But it all seemed to be in good fun — both Joarr and Elgr were laughing, while Gwyn and the children were loudly cheering, and Kalfr was reluctantly grinning, too. And even Julian and Rosa were both watching with obvious interest, and finally Daisy smiled and flipped open her sketchbook, and began sketching the proceedings, too.

It was a surprisingly lovely way to spend an evening, full of food and greenery and laughter. And soon Rosa’s mate John - Ka and their sons joined them too, adding their adorable giggles and squeals into the fray. All of it distracting enough that Daisy almost — almost — forgot about Filak , and the mess still quietly simmering at the back of her thoughts. All the questions, the mysteries, the women, the blood.

At least, until darkness had finally fallen, and they all said a cheerful round of farewells. And as Daisy headed back toward the mountain with their little group of Ka -esh, she felt…

A prickle, against the nape of her neck. Something … familiar.

Daisy whipped around, peering back into the darkness of the garden, but there was no one in sight. No one with pale skin and shadowed eyes, watching, waiting…

Daisy hugged her sketchbook tighter, and rushed into the mountain after the others. But the feeling kept lingering, even after Rosa had shut the stone door behind them, and all those questions had again begun bubbling louder, too. Who was Filak ? Why was he here? And where had he been all day? Was he watching her? Waiting ?

“Now, Daisy ,” Rosa said brightly, “you’re no longer staying in the sickroom, right? Would you like to come with us to the Ka -esh wing, and we can find you a cozy room to sleep in for the night?”

Oh. Daisy’s thoughts flicked longingly back to that sickroom, to the steady safe reassurance of Kesst and Efterar’s presence in the darkness. But she didn’t want to impose any further on them, either, or subject them to any more of Filak’s havoc… right? And if she was alone in the Ka -esh wing, then…

“Right,” Daisy belatedly replied. “ That sounds lovely, thank you.”

Rosa smiled back, though her eyes looked a little careful, now. “ And did you still want to have that kraga removed, too?” she asked. “ The Ka -esh forge is always running, and I’m sure it would only take a few moments.”

Damn it, the kraga . Daisy’s steps faltered, her heartbeat stuttering, as her hand fluttered up to that solid ring around her neck. Which had almost begun to feel… normal, somehow. Familiar . Maybe — maybe even reassuring . And the way Filak touched it, the way he kissed her neck against it, it was…

Daisy clamped down against that thought, because damn it, this was the stupidity again, wasn’t it? She’d decided to observe Filak and learn about him, not to indefinitely keep wearing his permanent steel collar, the one he’d used to chain her up in a dungeon. She’d already given him far too much latitude with the ring, with the food baskets and flowers, with his hands and his mouth. With him pushing her down to her knees in a latrine, and covering her lips with his ink, so everyone could see…

“Right,” Daisy said again, over the constriction in her throat. “ Yes , let’s go remove it. Of course.”

In reply, Rosa patted her shoulder and made approving noises, and then said goodbye to John - Ka and her sons, promising to meet them soon for bed. But Daisy barely heard any of it over the irrational pounding in her skull, or the strange stinging behind her eyes. She would have Filak’s collar removed, for good. That was the logical, reasonable thing to do. Right ?

But her heart kept pounding louder the further they went, down into the dark, quiet Ka -esh wing. She hadn’t actually seen the Ka -esh wing yet, and according to Rosa’s enthusiastic explanations, it was the deepest area of Orc Mountain , dug far below the earth’s surface, and it apparently contained a laboratory, a shrine, a room dedicated to drafting and mathematics, and even a well-stocked library. All of which would usually have thoroughly sparked Daisy’s interest, but she couldn’t seem to muster more than a few nods and smiles toward Rosa , and the occasional glance over her shoulder into the darkness.

“Here we go!” cut in Rosa’s cheerful voice, as she guided Daisy into a bright, heated forge, with several masked smiths working around a large furnace. “ And there’s Gary , too!”

One of the masked orcs had already turned toward them, and when he pulled off his mask, Daisy instantly recognized him as Gareth , the kind orc who’d helped rescue her from the dungeon. And perhaps he’d been expecting them, because he immediately smiled and waved them toward the back of the forge, into a small adjoining room. This room was dimmer and quieter, and it seemed to be a showroom of some kind, with an impressive quantity of tools, weapons, and jewelry lining the stone walls.

But again, Daisy couldn’t seem to make herself notice any of it. Especially once Gareth had reached toward the wall, and picked up what appeared to be a huge, wickedly sharp pair of pliers .

“Removing the kraga shall only take a moment,” he told Daisy , his eyes warm and reassuring on hers. “ And it is very safe, also.”

But the drumbeat in Daisy’s chest thudded even louder, and she couldn’t stop her quick, instinctive step backwards. An action that Gareth clearly didn’t miss, based on the way he hesitated, and slightly lowered the pliers.

“Are you sure you wish to have the kraga removed, sister?” he asked, searching her face. “ It is fully your choice.”

Her choice. Daisy swallowed, and forced her mouth into a smile. “ Yes , of course I want to remove it,” she said, over the racing thunder in her ears. “ Keeping it would be… foolish. Ridiculous .”

She dragged her thoughts back to that terrifying moment in the dungeon, to when Filak had snapped the kraga around her neck, and used it to chain her to the wall. And how she’d yanked at it until she’d bled, how she’d wept and screamed, trapped and lost and alone…

“Your choice in this would not be foolish , sister,” came Gareth’s voice, quieter now. “ The kraga is your jewel now, and it was made with much cost and care. I should know this, ach?”

His mouth betrayed a rueful twitch, because wait, down in that dungeon — he’d said he had forged that chain himself, right? And did that mean — had he forged the kraga , too?

But yes, curse it, surely he had. And here Daisy was, asking Gareth to destroy his own work. His own… art. And even the thought of it curdled uncomfortably in her gut, and her hand flitted up to the kraga again, stroking uneasily against it.

“I’m sorry, I forgot it was yours,” she told him, as her fingers followed the curve of it, felt the familiar smoothness of the metal, the slight raised ridges within it. “ It feels like lovely work.”

Gareth blinked toward her, and cocked his head sideways. “ Have you not,” he began, “yet… seen it?”

Daisy’s stomach churned again, and she shook her head, and attempted another false-feeling smile. “ I suppose — I haven’t,” she said thickly. “ I did see a looking-glass earlier today, but it was small, and I was distracted, and…”

Her voice trailed off, her mouth grimacing, but the look in Gareth’s eyes was patient, even sympathetic. “ We ought to have thought of this,” he told her. “ Now come, and see.”

He waved toward a nearby wall, where a large looking-glass hung over a jewel-strewn counter. So Daisy took a deep, bracing breath, and then went over to the glass, and looked.

And — oh. Oh . The kraga was — gold . Not just metal, not just steel, like she had assumed. No , it was a smooth, elegant circle of bright burnished gold, gleaming against her skin.

And those raised ridges Daisy had felt in it — she swallowed, stepped closer — they were jewels . Square , sparkling orange jewels, exactly like — like the one in her ring. Yellow topaz , Julian had called it. The sign of Filak’s kin.

Daisy’s hand snapped up, her fingers spreading wide, setting her ring against the kraga . And yes, oh gods, the two pieces were a perfect match, the orange glittering against the gleaming gold, dancing bright and dazzling in the lamplight.

Sólin mín.

Daisy belatedly winced, thrust her hand downwards, away — but that still left her blinking at that beautiful kraga , and her own shocked face. Her face with its soft sooty lips, its flushed cheeks, its halo of orangey mussed-up hair — all of it a strange complement to the glittering gold jewel around her throat, and even those distinct new bite-marks in her skin. And for a bizarre, jolting instant, it occurred to her that she looked like… something she would draw. Someone who would make her look twice.

She looked like… an artist. Sólin mín. Daisy mín.

An odd tightness clutched in her throat, prickled at the back of her neck — but when she lurched around, it was still only Gareth , and Rosa , and Julian . Though Julian had been eyeing the door too, and he squared his shoulders as he turned back toward her. “ The kraga is a lovely jewel, sister,” he told her. “ And it looks well upon you, also, for Filak had Gareth make it just to suit you, ach?”

He had? Daisy blinked at Julian , and then at Gareth , because that — that wasn’t possible, was it? Gods , even the timing of it, it had only been a single day between their first meeting, and then Filak kidnapping her and chaining her up in the dungeon… right?

But Gareth’s smile was wry and warm, now, and he nodded. “ Filak rushed in here early in the morn, reeking of need,” he told her, “and demanded I halt all my work at once, and make him jewels to best befit a sun.”

A sun . Daisy couldn’t stop staring at Gareth , and her heartbeat was now wildly galloping, swerving against her ribs. Filak had done that? He’d done that after she’d left him that morning, after he’d crushed her ring. He’d run here, and ordered new jewels for her. Jewels to best befit a sun .

“He also brought me a band from an old ring you wore,” Gareth continued, with another wry smile. “ One that once held a glass stone. He raged that anyone would dare make such a travesty, let alone offer it to you to wear, and swore he would never see you arrayed thus again.”

What? Daisy’s heartbeat spiked even higher, her mouth falling open. Lew’s diamond ring had been… fake? Made of glass ?!

“Are you sure?” Daisy blurted toward Gareth , before she could stop it. “ That the ring was glass? And not — diamond?”

Gareth blinked, but then nodded, a little wary, now. “ Ach , there were yet fragments upon it,” he replied, as visible distaste curled on his mouth. “ No true diamond would shatter thus, ach?”

Oh. Oh , gods curse her. Of course. Of course it hadn’t been a diamond. Of course Lew hadn’t bought her anything so expensive. And of course Daisy had hated it on first sight. She’d … seen it. She’d known .

And it also meant… she couldn’t have sold the ring, after all. She couldn’t have used it to run away. And that memory of Filak glaring down toward the ring with such obvious contempt, and then crushing it with one fierce snap of his claws, was shifting and flickering into something else. Something that felt almost like vindication. Like … gratitude .

For a long, hovering moment, no one spoke — but then Gareth cleared his throat, and nodded down toward his pliers. “ But we can yet remove this kraga , sister, should you wish,” he said. “ And you could yet keep the pieces, or repurpose them for aught else, or sell them.”

But even the thought sent a sudden, repulsed shudder up Daisy’s spine, because she couldn’t possibly break this stunning work of art into pieces , oh gods. Pieces that could be repurposed, sold , made to fit something else, or someone else.

“No,” Daisy’s voice croaked, and the word was a refuge, an absurd unthinkable relief. “ No . It shouldn’t be broken.”

She didn’t miss the distinct flicker of relief in Gareth’s eyes, and perhaps in Julian’s , too. Only Rosa still looked uncertain, her gaze darting from Daisy’s neck, to her face, and back again. “ You’re sure, sister?” she carefully asked. “ You’re really under no obligation, either way.”

But Daisy was clinging to it now, clutching at the bizarre relief still rushing through her breaths. “ No , I’m sure,” she said, and curse her, she meant it. No matter how foolish it was, how ridiculous, how unscientific and irrational. You must learn and know for yourself.

The certainty of that statement kept ringing as Daisy thanked Gareth for his help, and then followed Rosa and Julian back out into the dark, empty corridor. And though Rosa began showing Daisy various empty rooms as they passed — apparently all options for her to sleep in — she again only half-listened, too often glancing over her shoulder into the darkness.

Daisy mín. Sólin mín.

“Are your own rooms near here?” Daisy finally asked Rosa , with a glance toward Julian . “ Perhaps I could just stay somewhere near one of you?”

Rosa looked decidedly pleased by this, and swiftly ushered them further up the corridor, into an area so dark Daisy could scarcely make out the shapes of the adjoining doorways. But it turned out that there was a small empty room here, just down the hall from Rosa , and right next door to Julian , too. And as Julian ran off to fetch some fresh furs and bedding, Daisy did her best to thank Rosa for such a lovely and informative day, and for all her help and generosity.

“Oh, but it was my pleasure, sister,” Rosa said, her voice slightly cracking, as she pulled Daisy into a quick, impulsive hug. “ I’ve been the only Ka -esh woman in the mountain for these past four years , and I can’t tell you how wonderful it’s been to have you here! No one else has ever read all my publications, or shown so much interest in my communications work — let alone offering to help . And no matter what you decide about Filak ” — Rosa blinked, and betrayed a sniff — “ I really hope you’ll stay.”

Oh. It caught in Daisy’s throat, tangled with a sensation much like longing, and her stammered answer felt too paltry, too foolish. Rosa couldn’t really mean all that, and she couldn’t truly want Daisy to — stay, right? Permanently ? She was only supposed to be here until… until…

“How many days are left, again?” she asked, too abrupt, into the silence. “ Until — Lew’s attack?”

Something she couldn’t quite read passed across Rosa’s eyes, but then she nodded at Daisy , and squared her shoulders. “ Two weeks exactly, as of today,” she replied. “ You’ll at least stay until then, won’t you?”

Stay, until then. Wait here, in Orc Mountain , for Lew’s attack to come. For all that looming death, Lord Nash , Sybil , feeding belladonna to children…

It was again too much, yet more chaos in Daisy’s overwhelmed exhausted brain. And she was deeply, distantly grateful when Rosa didn’t press the question, and instead waved over Daisy’s shoulder, toward where Julian was coming back up the corridor, now heavily laden with furs.

Between the three of them, it didn’t take long to set up the room, and once it was finished, Daisy again found herself struck to stillness, too overcome to speak. The room was small, yes, but it also felt comfortable and cozy, with a large fur-covered bed, a simple wooden chair, and a tall candlestick burning on a small table beside the bed. A table that now held her sketchbook and pencils, too.

“You’ll be perfectly safe here,” Rosa said firmly, “but just call for help if you need us. Anytime , about anything at all.”

Daisy fervently smiled and nodded, and after another round of heartfelt thanks and farewells, she was left alone in her new room, in the dark, with all the day’s overwhelming turmoil still jangling through her skull. Everything she’d learned, everything she’d seen, all the unanswered questions, everything that still waited ahead. The kraga , the ring, the sun, the belladonna, two weeks…

It took all her remaining focus to strip down to her shift, and slide into her new bed between the soft furs. Her thoughts whirling even faster as she reached to snuff the candle, plunging the room into utter darkness. What was she supposed to do next, what did she want, she needed to see for herself…

And then — then — she felt it. The presence in the room. The movement in the air. The prickle of eyes, stroking across her skin. Closer , and closer, until…

A warm, powerful, familiar body sank down over her, and crushed her heavy to the bed.

Filak.

And in the already-raging chaos of Daisy’s thoughts, there were more shouts, more stark jangling truths. Filak had still kidnapped her. He’d locked her in a dungeon. He’d still pushed her to her knees in a latrine, and painted his ink on her lips. He’d still trapped her with a permanent collar she couldn’t bear to destroy…

But he’d also made the jewels just for her. He’d brought her food and flowers. He’d warned her about the ink. He’d wanted to follow her into the sun. He’d crushed Lew’s ring, just like he would crush Lew , too…

You must learn, and know, for yourself.

And with a deep, shaky breath, Daisy clutched for Filak’s face, drew him close, and kissed him.