Aaron had no words. Only the questions pounding him. Was this somehow his fault? Could he have detected this kind of behavior, having turned on everyone himself at one point?

Rohan took to a quiet spot near the back of the dragon to be alone. He still couldn’t get over what Fifer was saying. If it were true… Ugh—he could hardly even imagine. His heart would be broken forever. There was no worse betrayal in his mind. Thisbe knew how dedicated he was to getting the land back to the rightful owners. She had to know how much this would hurt him. Didn’t she care? If only he could talk to her. Find out what was happening.

He could hardly get through the suspense one minute at a time. He didn’t know if he could last until they found Fifer the next day. Where was Thisbe? The castle? Would she be alone? He glanced at Quince. Perhaps Rohan could go to the castle to check things out while the others went to find Fifer. That would be risky, though. He’d have to clear it with Maiven and Florence, and he could already predict the answer to be a hearty “no.” But he just wanted to talk to Thisbe so badly his head ached.

A few weeks before, Florence had awarded Rohan his very own loaded component vest. He slipped his fingers into one of the pockets and drew out a send spell component, then turned it around in his hands.

He knew it was a bad idea to send anything to Thisbe, knowing that she was probably with the Revinir. Yet… he couldn’t stop agonizing about everything. How could she do this to him? He clutched the buttons of his shirt, near his heart, as if that would stop the pain from oozing through his chest.

But it only intensified. He’d never felt more abandoned in his life. Not even when his mother had forced him to go away. Thisbe’s betrayal was worse than that. It felt cold-blooded. Calculated. Almost impossible to believe. But what if… what if it was true? What if her evil side had taken point for the first time? What if all this time her evil levels were increasing and Rohan just hadn’t known? What if her turning to work with the Revinir was just an inevitable thing that Rohan had convinced himself wouldn’t ever happen? How naive of him.