When she speaks again, it’s in a near whisper. “Ronin says a familiar can’t be apart from their shaman for more than a few weeks. Anything more than that, and the familiar begins to fade. Not completely, not as long as the bond remains, but they … I will need to be near you to be real.”

“You are real,” I say fiercely. “You are Saengo Phang, heir to Falcons Ridge. And you’re my best friend.”

“He also says familiars don’t age. How can I be any of those things when you’ll continue to grow and change, and I …”

“Saengo.” My voice breaks, but nothing I say or do can repair this. So I say nothing. I only hold her hand in both of mine, willing my strength into her.

“It could be worse,” she says, although she doesn’t sound like she believes it. “You are my sister, Sirscha. And now we’re bound together.” She reaches up and wipes from my cheek a tear I hadn’t even felt. “Tell me what Ronin said to you? He alluded to a deal of some kind.”

That’s the last thing I want to talk about, but she’s clearly finished speaking about her own somber situation now that she’s gotten her answer. So I don’t press her and instead relay the bargain I made with Ronin.

“This soulguide thing is probably just an old story. I’m not sure how much of it I believe. But what matters is that I prove I can help control the Dead Wood. It might be enough to convince the queen that I’m not an enemy so we can go home.”

Saengo looks down. “How can I possibly go home?”

“We’ll figure something out.” I can’t promise her that things will work out, not when everything feels so hopeless. But for her sake, I try to sound optimistic. I gesture to the books on the desk. “I’m hoping something in there will mention how the Dead Wood was created or tell me more about the first soulguide. Culling the trees only works if I know what I’m doing.”

Saengo moves away from the balcony for a closer look at the books. Her hand slips from mine.

“A Chronicle of the Yalaeng Conquest,” she murmurs, reading the first title.

The Yalaeng Conquest is how Scholars refer to the period in Thiy’s history when the Nuvalyn Empire set out to expand its borders by conquering smaller neighboring kingdoms. It culminated in the rise of the Soulless, which effectively ended the conquest.