Anton opened his eyes, stumbling back as flashes of destruction overtook him. His gaze climbed to the sky, where ribbons of gold, green, and blue light cracked open the night.

“What’s happening?” Lady Iskara asked, a thread of fear in her voice that made her sound, for the first time, like a child. “What is he?”

“He’s a Prophet,” Hassan replied, raising his voice over the reverberation of Anton’s Grace. “Just as he said.”

Anton fell to his knees and released his Grace, gasping. The air went quiet. The sky dark. Jude was instantly at Anton’s side, bracing him with an arm around his waist. Anton let him support some of his weight, raising his eyes to meet Lady Iskara’s awed face.

“We all have reasons to want to hide from Pallas and his Witnesses,” Anton said. “But now we’ve laid all our cards on the table. I … hope you can find it in yourself to extend that trust back to us.”

Lady Iskara just stared at him for a moment and then looked away.

“All right,” she said at last. “But you will tell me everything.”

Lady Iskara brought them all to her citadel, a stone castle set into the bare rock of the mountain. As they climbed down the stone stairs, Jude hovered at Anton’s side, as if afraid he might collapse again, but he said nothing to him. When Anton tried to catch his gaze, he looked away.

Down in the great hall, they all sat at a long table, with six of Lady Iskara’s rangers rounding out their group. Servants brought trays of warm bread and a thick venison stew with turnips and cabbage. The food was plain, but hardy, and Anton hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until he was shoveling some into his mouth.

“Radka will see to it that there’s space in the barracks for you all to stay the night,” Lady Iskara told them.

“As guests or prisoners?” Hector asked through a mouthful of stew.

“I’m still deciding,” Lady Iskara replied archly. “You still haven’t told me why it is you’re in my city.”

“Well, your rangers captured us by the river,” Anton answered.

Lady Iskara did not look impressed by his wit.

“We’re trying to find the other Prophets,” Anton said. “The remaining Prophets, aside from Pallas. They … we think they’ll know how to stop him.”

“The other Prophets,” Lady Iskara repeated. “And you mean to tell me they’re what—somewhere in my backyard?”

“They’re in the Unspoken Mountains,” Anton replied, ignoring Jude’s warning glance.

Lady Iskara’s expression darkened. “Is this a joke?”

“No, my lady,” Anton said, with a quick glance of confusion at the rest of them. “Why would it be a joke?”