Fifer’s plan had a few holes in it. But together, maybe they could fill them. And it seemed possible they could succeed. Thisbe was an excellent actor—she felt pretty good about being able to convince the Revinir she was joining her side. But could Thisbe come to terms with how hard this would be mentally when everyone she loved would think she had betrayed them? Rohan’s face kept coming to mind. How could she even look at him again, knowing how wrecked he’d feel? He’d be devastated. That was by far the worst part of all of this.

Yet after months of brainstorming with the best warriors they knew, this was the first idea about how to defeat the Revinir that actually sounded like it could work. And Thisbe was the only one in the right spot and with the right creative skills to do it.

She let her hands drop to her sides and opened her eyes. It seemed like everyone in two worlds was depending on her. It was a heavy load to bear. And that tiny but awful worry about actually liking the evil side continued to sow doubts in Thisbe’s mind. Is this how it had begun for Emma? Or for Aaron? Was there any way to control that, or was it her destiny?

Thisbe turned back to the palace and started walking. Her ankle didn’t hurt quite so much going back—perhaps she’d loosened it up a little. And maybe the sunshine had helped her spirits overall, despite the gravity of the fears Thisbe wrestled with. Going up those stairs would be a challenge. But she was pretty good at facing challenges head on.

Once Thisbe neared the top, she called out. “Fifer?”

“What is it?” said Fifer, coming to the landing. “Do you need help?”

Thisbe shook her head. She’d done so many hard things alone. And this was just one more. “I’m going to do it. Your plan, I mean. I… I’ll do it.”

Filling in Some Pieces

While ships continued to arrive in Artimé filled with Warblerans determined to support Florence and the rest of her team, Fifer, Thisbe, and Dev strategized in Ashguard’s library without telling anyone what they were doing. They lived fairly peacefully with the four red dragons, whom the humans had decided by now must have been instructed not to harm anyone on the property, but to keep them from leaving. And as long as they didn’t step outside of the dragons’ boundaries or cross the river, the three black-eyed schemers were safe and free to roam.

“How does it begin?” Thisbe asked. She lay sprawled on her stomach on the library floor with papers surrounding her. She and Fifer and Dev had sketched plans, discarded them for other plans, then returned to the original ideas.