“Yes,” Helly said, shooing him toward the door. Fordham looked like he wanted to argue, but eventually relented. “Your training begins tomorrow, but I can give you a medical exemption.”

“No,” Kerrigan said automatically.

“Why am I not surprised you don’t want one?”

“I wasn’t in the tournament until the very end. I can’t miss the first day of training as well. No one will take me seriously.”

“You’re in no shape, but if you drink this draught and sleep the rest of the evening, you might be ready. Or at least, you won’t pass out halfway through the day.” Helly passed her the drink. “I hope.”

Kerrigan took a tentative sniff of the mug and gagged at the smell. “What is this?”

“Just drink it,” Helly admonished.

Kerrigan held her breath and then downed the thick, viscous substance in one go. She choked on it but held the stuff down.

“That should speed you up. I did what I could without Fordham telling me what had happened to you. I treated you as if you’d had a vision.” Helly arched an eyebrow. “Is that what happened?”

It was easier than the truth. How could she even begin to explain what had happened in that mountain?

“Yes,” Kerrigan said, sinking back down into the covers.

“What did you see?”

“I don’t know.” Kerrigan sighed and closed her eyes. “It was a woman and a man that I didn’t recognize. They were together, and the woman did some kind of light magic.”

Helly pursed her lips. “I have no idea what that means. You recognized neither of them?”

“No.”

Lie. She knew exactly who they were and what they had done. But a part of her couldn’t confide in Helly what she had almost done. What would Helly think to know that she had tried to take the wall down? What would she think if she knew it was even possible?

“Well, it always reveals itself eventually,” Helly said. She patted Kerrigan’s knee. “Get some rest. We will discuss what happened in the House of Shadows after that.”

“We will?”

“Of course. You’re the first person to enter their grounds with an inside source to their court in a thousand years. We need to know everything that happened, everything you heard.”

Kerrigan looked at her, aghast. “I’m not a spy.”

Helly shot her a pitying look. “Your allegiance lies with us. Society first, tribe second. This is what that means.”

“Did you ask Fordham?”

“Yes. He was quite forward with information, if I’m honest. I don’t know why you would want to withhold anything that happened. He made it seem rather mundane. Border disputes, treaty issues, trade issues.” She waved her hand. “Anything is helpful.”

Kerrigan nodded. Right. Anything but the truth of what they had almost done there.

“Okay. Yeah. We can talk.”