Aaron looked from one twin’s face to the other, reading the signs. Thisbe gave a wan smile, then shook her head slightly. “I’m out. Thanks for thinking of me, though.”

Sky gave Thisbe a nod. She knew that had been the right call.

“Fifer?” Aaron nudged.

Fifer sucked in a breath as the voice in her head returned. “I—I—what?”

“You seem like a good fit.”

Fifer couldn’t speak. Everything swirled in her mind. Good, bad. Good, bad. You killed an Unwanted. You saved your brother’s life.

Thisbe closed her eyes, a pained look crossing her face as she imagined how hard things would be for Fifer in this role. Wasn’t there anybody else who would do it?

“Why don’t you want to?” Fifer whispered, glancing at her sister.

Thisbe hesitated. “I have other things I want to do. My work… and my heart… is in Grimere with our people and our land and the dragons.” She glanced at Rohan as heat rose to her face.

Our people. Our lands. That included Fifer, and it gave her one more thing to feel strange about if she chose to do this. “But,” said Fifer weakly, “what about my part in the whole land of the dragons… thing?” Her voice faltered and betrayed the truth—that she really wasn’t very invested in the country of her mother’s birth. The country where her grandmother should be queen. But none of that mattered. In that moment she knew for sure that her heart was here, in Artimé, in spite of the troubles this land and its people faced going forward. In spite of the danger she’d certainly face. Fifer wanted to be with Aaron and Kaylee and Seth, and all the others who were so special to her. The people she’d saved by ending the reign of Frieda Stubbs. And no matter what accusations the voice in her head made, Artimé needed her. It might take some time to convince herself of that after what had happened today, but Fifer had done what was necessary to save the world she loved.

Being head mage was also something Fifer had worked hard to earn, though she hadn’t realized it at the time. She’d fought Alex’s rules to secretly train and take her place as a top mage on the rescue team. And she’d stepped up and led the charge to find Thisbe after Alex had been killed. She’d put her grief aside for the sake of the quest and had commanded people twice her age. Her team had found her sister and Sky and Rohan and Maiven, and they’d come out of a second fiery battle against the Revinir without losing anybody else. That was Fifer’s success. Those were the battles she’d already won. When she thought of it that way, reuniting the people and reinstating the principles of Artimé didn’t seem quite as hard as before.

Her gaze landed on the robe draped over her arm. She couldn’t look Thisbe in the eye as all the confusing thoughts swirled around her mind. Was it wrong that Fifer felt so strongly tied to Artimé instead of Grimere? Should she be feeling bad about this in addition to her feelings about what had happened with Frieda? And, whether Thisbe wanted the role or not, would she make a better head mage than Fifer? She’d become a leader without anyone really noticing until now. Fifer glanced at Simber, frozen and splayed weirdly in the dirt, and remembered their short time working together in Grimere after Alex had died. Would the cheetah feel the same about Thisbe as he would about Fifer?