I remembered how Noria’s eyes had flashed, and the disgusted look she’d given Rylan. Clearly, she thought he was a sell-out. I wondered what she would do when the time came for her own sentencing. Would she take whatever deal Iannis figured out for her? Or would she spit in our faces, as she’d been doing the entire time?

Please, Resinah, I said, calling on her rather than Magorah for once. Help Noria see sense.

But Resinah didn’t answer, and neither did Magorah. I wondered if I should appeal to Noria’s god, the Ur-God, instead. But I doubted that would help—like Iannis, I suspected the Ur-God and Magorah were all just different names for the Creator, and that there was only one God. If He or She didn’t answer under one name, why would they answer under another?

Besides, I doubted it would make any difference—Noria would do whatever that strong, stubborn will of hers told her to do. That stubborn streak was one of the things I liked about her—she reminded me of myself at her age. But while I had gotten into my fair share of trouble, I’d still managed to come out on top in the end. I wasn’t sure Noria would be so lucky. She was headed back to Solantha now, along with Rylan, Annia, and Elnos. Annia and Elnos had agreed to accept responsibility for her. Though it pained Annia to do it, and their mother might never forgive her, I knew she would have Noria placed in a cell in the Enforcers Guild when they arrived back. And when the time came for her hearing on Monday, she would personally see to it that Noria made it there.

The alternative was that Noria would become a fugitive of the state, condemned to dodge death for the rest of her life. And Annia would be punished for allowing Noria to escape.

Parabas Palace turned out to be set close to the city center, nestled into the bend of the Millawette River that ran east-west through the state before heading north. It was constructed almost entirely of beautiful red brick, with grey slate tiles covering the roofs and turrets, and green ivy crawling up the exterior walls. Though smaller than Solantha Palace, it still cut a majestic figure against the cloudless blue sky, with the river gently flowing behind it.

The long, paved driveway leading to the front entrance was flanked by tall trees trimmed into conical shapes. The scent of magic thickened in the air as we passed protective wards laid around the estate, dormant but ready to activate at the first sign of trouble. A fountain sculpture graced the center of the paved roundabout in front of the palace, depicting Jeremidah, Faonus, and Micara, the Founding Trio who had established the Northia Federation. This one was much bigger than the similar sculpture in Dara’s Capitol building.