When the city came into view, and the camp along with it, he finally broke their silence. “Before we get there, is there anything in particular you want to ask about?” He cleared his throat and added, “Anyone?”

She paused, her steps faltering. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “There has to be some reason we are back here, Roar. I am trying not to pressure you. But you have to know how dangerous a situation we have walked into. I assume there is someone inside the city who you worry is caught up in this danger. Am I right?”

Roar’s teeth bit into her bottom lip, worrying it back and forth. Finally, she said, “It is complicated. But yes, yes that is part of it. My mother is inside.”

Kiran’s jaw went slack, and he gaped at her. “Your mother?” He had always assumed she was orphaned in some way, like the rest of the crew. He did not know why. She had never said anything outright about her parents. But he had gotten the impression that she had been in quite dire straits before she ran away, essentially on her own.

Roar nodded, and his thoughts finally managed to catch up to the situation. He released her hand to cup the back of her neck and pull her in to the side of his chest. “Oh, princess. You should have said. We will get you to your mother.”

Her face crumpled into a painful expression, and he did not know what to do except hold her tighter. So he did. And after too short a time, he pulled away and said, “Let’s go make some new friends.”

If Aurora thought it had been difficult to concentrate before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now with the aching pit of guilt roiling in her belly. She had not technically lied. She was desperate to get inside the city and find out what happened to her mother, hopefully find the woman herself, if she was still alive. But it did not feel like any less of a deceit when Kiran had taken her in his arms, looking sorry to have pushed her on the subject.

She was a terrible human. A terrible, awful, selfish human. All of this—it was her fault. She looked at the remnants around her, wondering how things might have been different if she had stayed. Would these poor people be out here, vulnerable and afraid, if it were not Locke flags flying atop the castle walls?

The terrible truth was … she did not know.