“Don’t ‘Lorna’ me, Torr. You know I’m right. I said it at least fifty times. Between their past and their curse, it made no sense for him to come. And now look! He wants to send us away so he can complete the suicide mission all on his own!”

I take even breaths and let Lorna release all the aggression she needs. I don’t blame her; I expected her anger. I’m surprised her fist hasn’t yet landed somewhere on my face.

“Tell us how this is going to work, Braizen. How do you plan to get the Princess from here to Nerwick? Have you two grown so close that she’ll gladly follow you? Or do you plan to hold hands and skip through our corpses and your fallen kingdom as ghosts?”

I remain silent, but Lin sees the look in my eyes and draws a long, unsteady breath. “Lady and Guard,” he whispers. “You don’t plan to take her to your father, do you?”

Lorna’s emerald stare darts from Lin to me, then back to Lin.

“What are you talking about?”

Lin closes his eyes. “He’s taking her to Aeradian.”

“What?!” Lorna glares at me, and I swear, for a moment, her freckles are ablaze.

Torr, leaning against a nearby tree, straightens.

Lin slowly shakes his head. “Nuri told us why Idalia was traveling through The Wood. It wasn’t to pay respects to King Lester. She’s to marry Lachlan and become Queen of Aeradian.”

Lorna laughs wildly and throws up her hands. “Oh, for the Guard’s sake! How wonderful! Well, Braizen, I don’t see what the holdup is. Go ahead and kiss her now since we’ll all be dead soon anyways!” She spits, wipes her hands on her thighs, and paces.

Torrent slowly walks over; unlike the others, his expression isn’t flustered or angry. “I’ll go with you,” he says simply.

Lorna spins. “Oh, hells Torrent, not you, too!!”

“You don’t understand, Torrent,” Lin says and places a hand on our large friend’s arm. “There’s more to the story. The obstacles we’ve faced: the Obsidian Mist and the deadly vines, are because of her. The best thing we can do, for all our sakes, is to return home. Without the girl.”

He looks at me. “If you want her safe, Braizen, you’ll convince her to stay put. Nuri said the Minea Herrah protect Idizina and that no evil will befall her if she stays here.”

“She said Idalia’s safe for now. That’s not the same thing,” I rumble, making eye contact with each one of them. Lin breathes heavily.

“But it is enough. It has to be!”

“If you go with her, the Keepers of the Dark will come after you too,” Lorna interjects. “That’s not a risk we’re willing to take.”