Seeing Kiyo stirred up all sorts of troubling feelings. I was angry, absolutely, that I’d somehow just acquired him as an ally, despite my protests. It was also hard not to resent him after everything he’d put me through. He’d tried to kill me and my children. Because of him and Maiwenn, I’d spent the last six months hiding and on the run. Those were things I wasn’t going to forgive. I wasn’t even sure I could temporarily put them aside “for the greater good.”

At the same time, I remembered that Kiyo and I had once been close. We’d shared a connection. I’d loved him. Nonetheless, I’d had a long time to overcome those sentimental feelings, and they certainly wouldn’t give me a moment’s hesitation if he attacked me again. The other part I kept thinking about was that at the root of all of this, Kiyo was the father of my children. I thought they were wonderful, the most amazing things in either world. Yet, they were half him. What did that mean? Was there good in him? Bad in them?

None of the above, Eugenie, I immediately realized. We were not our parents. Each individual was his or her own person, no matter the heritage. Jasmine and I were proof of that. Kiyo was in no way a reflection of who Isaac and Ivy were or who they’d become.

“You needn’t glare like that,” remarked Dorian, leading his horse up beside me. “What’s done is done.”

I fixed the aforementioned glare on him. “Yeah, well, it would’ve been nice if you’d maybe given me a heads-up on this. But no. Like always, you withheld information and decided to pull the strings without consulting anyone else.”

“It was presumptuous, true.” From Dorian, that was a big concession. “But I knew you wouldn’t like it either way. If you’d had notice, you simply would’ve had more time to build up arguments. As it is, he’s joined us and is now off helpfully scouting in a furry, smelly form. By which I mean his fox form. I know it’s hard to tell the difference.”

I shook my head, amazed at his nonchalant attitude. “And you think that’s it? All is forgiven and he’ll just be cool with me having Storm King’s grandchildren because we’re all united in some super team? That’s naïve.”