He laughed, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “It’s alright.”

I waited as he answered the door, my eagerness buzzing under my skin, making me restless. Flick thanked our visitor, and I rocked onto the balls of my feet, trying to catch a glimpse of their exchange. When he finally turned, I saw the letter in his hand. The same blood-red envelope that would arrive every fortnight.

My heart skipped.

“What did I tell you, starlight?” he teased, waving the envelope. I reached out for it, but he snatched it back playfully. “No kiss for the messenger?”

I hummed. “You’re right. I’m sure if I run, I can catch him at the gate.”

Flick stared at me for a beat, making my throat suddenly a little dry, before sucking his teeth and shrugging in feigned nonchalance. “Well, if that’s gonna be your attitude, guess I’ll keep hold of this, since you don’t want to pay the handling fee.”

I rolled my eyes and brought my mouth to his, savoring his hum of contentment and the pressure of his tusks against my lips. He tasted sweet, like he’d been raiding the pantry again. I withdrew, my eyebrow cocked. “Have you eaten all my jam tarts?”

His gaze flicked to the side then back again. “No.”

I scoffed and plucked the letter from between his fingers. For a moment, I just held it, tracing the messy cursive on the front with my gaze. It was addressed to me as it always was, but I knew it would include a greeting for Flick too. Anticipation got the better of me—no surprise there—so in a rush, I flipped the letter over and peeled off the seal, removing the contents.

My brow furrowed at the single page that came free. I even shook out the envelope in case the rest was trapped inside. There was nothing else, and what concerned me even more was the lack of words written in simple script in the center when I unfolded the note.

It simply read: Dad, we need you.

The implication of the words settled over me, realization dawning.

A war was brewing. I’d known it from his earlier letters only days after he’d gone through the tear, but this was the rallying cry. The king had kidnapped a human, had devised an entire plot to defame his own son, provoke the leaders of Edenglas, and bring the humans to his side. It was madness, and I had known it was only a matter of time before I received this call to action. I had hoped it wouldn’t be so soon, that it would resolve itself before getting this far, but I knew the king would not stand down. If Luca and the others had foiled his plans as they’d set out to do, Naeron would be enraged.