“Yes, it’s a pity the Eye is no more,” Zephyr said, her full lips pursing into a frown. “We have your almost-husband to thank for that.”

Finally, Aurora found her nerve to speak. “So it was Cassius who destroyed the Eye?”

The water witch shrugged. “His brother technically led the raid, but since Cassius oversees the military I am sure it was done at his command.”

“How did you know where to find her?” Aurora asked, turning her stare back to Kiran, hoping he could not see the hurt shining in her eyes. If he had known how to get in touch with the leader of the Eye, why hadn’t he done that to begin with?

For a moment, she thought he might ignore her completely, but then he shrugged. “Jinx mentioned the leader of the rebellion was a water witch. I only know of one in Pavan, so I went to a tavern where I knew I could get her a message.”

A quick look to Jinx confirmed this. But Aurora still did not understand. He had been so against her taking part in a rebellion, and then he went straight to the woman who led it? What was he playing at?

She wanted to bombard him with questions, but she would not do it here in front of the woman whose eyes traced over his back as if he were a particularly impressive work of art.

So instead, she forced her eyes to Taven and said, “Tell me everything.”

She listened for the next hour as Taven told the story of her kingdom’s fall, starting with the day of her kidnapping, and the exhaustive search that followed. She immediately felt guilty, for it was clear that Taven had taken her disappearance incredibly hard. It was why he had involved himself in the Locke military, so that he could be part of the search for her. The news was worse than she feared. It was more than the remnants outside who were suffering. The Eye had been burned in a show of force when the Lockes first took over. The only reason there was not massive loss of life was because Taven had managed to get a message to Zephyr in time for them to evacuate. That had been the beginning of his relationship with the resistance. He spoke of fellow soldiers killed for refusing to switch sides. He told her about the increasing number of volatile storms appearing nearly from thin air, and the people who suffered when the Stormlings were not fast enough to provide cover.

“And my mother?” Aurora asked. “How could she let this all happen?”

Taven shook his head mournfully. “When the queen found out you were taken … it was not as though she had lost hope, but as though she had none to begin with. She was devastated, reduced to ruins by her grief. She took to her bed, and she has not left it since.”

“You’ve seen her?”