“And me,” Kiran added. “She will need another hunter to collect the magic, while she focuses on controlling the storm. I have the most experience, other than Duke. And he is retired. And occupied. I can keep her safe should anything happen while we are in the wilds.”

“Any other reasons?” Duke asked, those blue eyes challenging him like they had so many times through the years, so many times when he thought Duke was just another misfit like him, not some lord.

“Does there need to be another reason?” he asked.

Taven asked, “Is that acceptable to you, Your High—” He trailed off at the glare Aurora gave him and added, “If you require more guards, I will gladly come.”

“We need your eyes and ears in the palace,” Zephyr declared. “I want you to try to find out whatever you can about Jinx and Nova—where they are being held, how many guards, when they change shifts. If the princess wants more guards for her sojourn in the wilds, she will have to choose someone else.”

“I do not need more guards. I do not need any guards,” Aurora pushed.

“But you do need another hunter,” Kiran said, meeting her eyes.

“I suppose that is true.”

“Then are we settled?” Zephyr asked. “Midnight?”

Aurora met Kiran’s gaze, and though she looked wary, she did not refuse. She nodded. “Midnight.”

“You should sleep.”

Jinx’s voice drifted across the dark room to Nova’s wide-awake ears. She had been trying. But it was one of those nights where she heard every little sound, and her mind magnified it like ripples in a pond. And her thoughts kept following those ripples to anywhere but here—to Aurora out in the city somewhere. Was she safe? What was the rebellion doing now? Would they be coming back for her and Jinx? Her mind drifted to her parents. She had heard nothing of them since her incarceration. Were they worried for her? Had they been spared punishment or had she somehow dragged them down too? Perhaps she had been gone long enough that they had decided to move on, live a life free from the danger she presented. She would not resent them for it. Though she would miss them. Frankly, she would worry less if they were gone, when there was only herself to hurt.