Her fingers curl around her knees. Her eyes are distant, as if she’s deep in a painful memory.

“No,” I say carefully, “you didn’t.”

Is she testing how much I know about her? About how close we were on my other path? Worry snakes through my stomach.

Tessa exhales—a ragged sound filled with emotion. “He loved to gamble. Cards, horses, kenning results.” She worries the edge of her thumbnail with her teeth. “But his ambition outmatched his supply of coin.”

“You can get sent to Fang Island for gambling?” I ask. The prison is remote, heavily guarded, and reserved for the worst criminals in Kastelia.

Tessa gives a harsh laugh. “No. But you can get sent there when you try to numb your stress with too much ale, and then hurt your family because you’re drunk.”

“Oh, Tessa …” I cover her hand with mine. “I’m sorry.” We sit like that for a few moments, as questions bubble inside me. Why would she suddenly share something so personal? Is she trying to tell me that I’m gambling away my life? That she doesn’t tolerate people who break the rules?

“May I ask …?” I pause, unsure how to put my thoughts into words without offending her. Finally I give up and just finish the question. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Her eyes meet mine. “Because someone hurt my mother once too, and for years I’d counted myself lucky that he didn’t do worse. I can’t imagine the pain if I’d actually lost her.” She flips her hand over and threads her fingers through mine. “I’m telling you so that you know I’m on your side.”

The door opens, and Bram slips back into the room. The spell book is gone. His gaze roams over my face, searching, and then falls to my hand, intertwined with Tessa’s. His expression darkens with something I can’t quite read. Worry? Fear?

“I took care of …” His voice fades away, as if he’s not sure what to call such a thing. He pulls at the nape of his neck. “If you ever want it back, just let me know.”

“Thank you.”

His eyes soften. “You’re welcome.”

A spark lights in my chest. And then I remember he’s here out of obligation to Norah. She asked him to come back to Midwood to travel with me, invited him to my binding ceremony. And the idea of us together made him laugh out loud. The memory slides under my skin like a sliver. A painful reminder of all I’ve lost.

Inwardly, I wince. I haven’t lost Bram—we were never together. If I can manage to ignore the feelings from my other path, they’ll eventually disappear. And I need to be focused on Latham.