‘Your mother, who was the healer, came up with a desperate solution. She dyed her silver hair black and went to Xanthos. That healer became Thea. And from then on, until she died, that is who she was.’

Dion’s breath came in gulps. It must have been a terrible secret for his mother to carry.

‘When she reached Xanthos she was comforted by the king and given time to acclimatize to her new world. If she acted strangely, all forgave her. They put a golden chain around her neck, as is your people’s custom, though it must have hurt her every day.’

Zachary’s eyes moved down slightly to Dion’s neck, bare ever since he gave his necklace to the farmer. ‘I see you do not wear your chain. Did it ever cause you pain?’

Dion started to shake his head, but then slowed and finally stopped. He thought about the naming ceremony of Nikolas’s son Lukas, and his own naming ceremony. When the magus called him to silver, he hadn’t come.

‘Your mother married the king, who, as is tradition, asked what gift he could give her. She asked her husband to hunt the wildren as he must, but not to seek revenge on the eldren. Over time she brought about peace between us, and together we cleared Xanthos of the wild ones.’

Dion remembered his mother dyeing her hair. She’d always said it was to cover gray, but now he knew the truth.

‘My mother was an eldran?’

‘She was.’

He remembered his difficulties learning swordsmanship. The only iron present in archery was in the heads of the arrows. Sailing was about rope, cloth, and wood. He felt strange.

‘But I’m only part eldran. It doesn’t change anything. I’m the same person I’ve always been.’

‘Of course you are,’ Zachary said.

He had a sudden thought. ‘When the attack came, why didn’t she change? She could have helped, couldn’t she?’

‘I believe that if she had asked to have her golden chain removed, and changed, your father would think he had been betrayed, right to the end. She loved your father, Dion. She died with him, rather than lose his love.’

Dion felt his eyes burning, but Zachary’s steady expression kept him strong. He removed his hands from Zachary’s and turned away as he thought about all he had lost.

There was still something he could do to help.

And it was standing right next to him.

Dion turned to Zachary and the eldran tilted his head to the side, waiting for him to speak.

‘You know what the Ileans did to my mother. Will you help us against our enemies?’