“Princess,” she says. “Eat your food. That’s an order.” Her voice reminds me of something, but I can’t think; my brain is all but mush. I don’t answer; I can’t. My bones continue to rattle within.

“Princess?” For a moment, her voice sounds sincere.

I part my dry, crusted lips and summon every ounce of my strength to respond.

“Death…She comes today.”

I close my eyes, ready to be met by death’s sweet warmth.

There’s movement. A sound. Creaking.

Hands are on me now; they turn me over.

I smile. Yes, Death. Take me.

Hot liquid spills down my throat and spreads a fire throughout my chest. This is what it feels like to pass over. I’m coming, Mother.

A muffled voice calls my name. I twitch and trace my tongue along my teeth. There’s moisture in my mouth, actual moisture. My skin doesn’t feel clammy.

I jolt upright, surprised at my body’s strength. I must have entered the Great Lands.

“Lady, did you save me?” I murmur and open my eyes to greet the goddess herself.

I stare into a pair of emerald greens.

“Not quite the Lady you were hoping for, I’m sure,” Lorna says. A black hood covers her hair.

“I’ve died,” I whisper, reaching for her cheek to see if she’s real.

“I should be so lucky,” she says and swats my hand away.

Torrent laughs, and I gasp when he rides up beside us and grins.

“You think we’d let you die that easily?” He asks. “After all we’ve been through?”

Ignoring her frown, I pull Lorna into a tight embrace. She’s the first human I’ve felt in months, the first familiar face. And she lives! Torrent is alive!

I’m alive.

“Uhm, just a quick reminder that we’re still in Baelliles, and I think it best if we, you know, shut up,” Lin’s familiar voice chirps anxiously. Over Lorna’s shoulder, I see Rianne riding behind us with Lin clutching her waist.

“Oh, come on, Speck. We just pulled off the greatest robbery of all time, and you want us to be quiet?”

“Yes, I want you to be quiet. More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

“Well, too bad!” Torrent howls. “I have to revel in my plan working! The greatest plan in history, I think.”

“Your plan?!”

The two quarrel over who came up with what, and Lorna grins and shakes her head. We bounce up and down as she directs her mount over grassy knolls.

“Lorna,” I whisper. “How did you get out from under the carriage?”

Her fierce eyes look into mine from beneath the black cowl, and for the first time, I note how light her lashes are and how perfectly her eyebrows are sculpted for permanent contention.