Some worried part of me wondered if maybe it wasn’t about me and the prophecy after all. What if something had happened to Jasmine? In that case, Dorian would have found a way to tell Roland, and I had to believe my stepfather would’ve gotten that news to me. I supposed the other possibility was that something was wrong with my lands. Maybe they were suffering from my absence more than I’d realized. Yet, when I touched those threads that connected us—even across worlds—I felt nothing particularly concerning. I was still joined to my kingdoms and had sensed none of the desperate longing from them that I had in the past when I’d left them with no caretaker. Honestly, I sensed no emotion at all from the lands. If anything, the connection felt kind of numbed, probably from my absence. Still, it was there, and it was steady.

“No,” I repeated. “I can’t. I can’t hear what they have to say. I’ve got a good thing going here. This is the right place for me to be, and I can’t let anything ruin it right now.”

“As my mistress wishes,” Volusian replied. “Do you have any further commands for me then?”

“Just the same ones as before. Avoid the Otherworld. Don’t come here again. Unless ...” Inspiration hit. “If they try to summon you, come here immediately if you’re able.” I didn’t know if Dorian and Maiwenn would attempt the feat again, but it would require a complicated set of spells. If Volusian could get to me first, I could probably strengthen our bond to prevent others’ influence. “Come to me if anyone attempts to summon or compel you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Then go.”

Volusian vanished, and the room instantly returned to its previous temperature. Still, I couldn’t help a small shiver. Dorian and Maiwenn hadn’t found me, not exactly, but they’d come much closer to it than I would’ve liked. I knew sending Volusian away was the smart thing to do, but again, the question nagged at me: Why would those two work together? In some ways, that bothered me as much as Volusian’s visit. Time and distance had made me start to miss Dorian, and some of the old fondness was starting to return. The thought of him playing some game with Maiwenn made all of my kindly feelings start to crumble. What was he up to?