“The soul bones shield against it, though, don’t they?” I thought back to the endless battle with the Berserkir. Only after the shield of soul bones split was it possible to destroy him.

Roark gave a stiff nod.

My head spun in endless questions. “Will those who controlled your darker soul retaliate, knowing they’ve lost you?”

Roark looked over his shoulder toward the cliffs in the North. We should make our way to the Night Ledges before we find out.

“I cannot leave Kael at Stonegate, not with Fadey and Ingir. They will hurt him. They could hurt everyone.”

Roark’s fist curled over his knee. He spoke briskly with the other hand. We need to plan before we return.

“You’ll…you’ll go back for him?”

Roark’s gaze burned when he met mine, the same familiar viciousness of the Sentry written in his features. I swear it.

The declaration was simple, but each gestured word cut to my marrow, a vow deeper than blood.

I did not know what to make of him. A liar? A protector? A lover? I looked down at my hands, tangling my fingers in a patch of long grass. “Thane didn’t know about Skul Drek, did he?”

Anger faded from Roark’s features and they filled with pain. He shook his head.

“And you weren’t pretending to care for him?”

He narrowed his gaze. Thane was the brother I did not expect. I betrayed him and will deserve his hatred. My folk wanted my loyalty after tearing out my voice to split my soul, but my fealty to Thane was not a lie. I simply had more loyalty to you in the end.

I rested a tentative palm on his leg. “How is it Skul Drek can speak?”

He shook his head. With a bit of hesitation, Roark touched the place over my heart with one hand, and spoke with the other. Soul to soul.

My breath caught. The more I thought on it, the more it was true. Skul Drek spoke to me with only his rough, strained voice when we were in the mirror land. “The soul was speaking to mine?”

I didn’t know such a thing was possible. The slightest grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He looked at his bandaged fingertip. We will need to find a way to warn the prince about his mother. If he will even listen to me.

“Thane will understand.”

Do you?

I wasn’t certain how to answer.

When I took too long, Roark looked away. My duty was to destroy melders, even if it meant harming Thane. And I did, remember?

“I remember the prince was attacked by Skul Drek.” My voice was steady, gentle. “And I recall the despondent Sentry who sat by his bedside until he was healed. A man who, I now realize, was likely blaming himself for something beyond his control.”