I ball the fist of my wand hand, my earth magic shivering as I wrestle back the urge to press my palm to every bit of wood and send power through it.

Or’myr draws his wand and sets to lighting lanterns, lilac illumination suffusing the room as he grabs hold of a strand of crystalline purple stones and a grimoire, muttering to himself in Uriskal about “finding a good geo-amplification of Sage’s spells” as he thumbs through one of the tomes.

“Let’s try the zoisite stone,” Or’myr murmurs as his long finger skims down the page. He sets down the grimoire and looks to me. “Hold out your arm, Elloren.”

I raise my arm, and Or’myr commences wrapping the crystalline strand around its length, the plum-colored stones so dark they’re almost black. He touches his wand to one of the stones. “I’m working on a hunch here,” he explains, a rich violet glow lighting the stone. “This should shave a few hours off the process of unbinding your power. While we wait, we can review defensive spells and place a proper geo-shield around you...we’ve more than enough time, cousin, but we’ll need to finish some of this before the Xishlon moon rises. It’s frustratingly difficult to concentrate around its thrall—”

“Or’myr,” I cut in, anxiety jabbing through both his muttering and my focus-scrambling pull toward all the wood in the room. “What happens to my brothers and everyone else if the Vu Trin take them into custody?”

Or’myr’s green eyes flick up to meet mine, a somber light in them. “They’ll question them and possibly hold them for a bit. No harm will come to them, Elloren. The Vu Trin aren’t going to slay the alphas of the Lupine army along with their most powerful Light Mage, or any of their other formidable allies—and we simply want Vang Troi to speak with you.”

“It’s not that simple, Or’myr.”

“I know it, cousin,” he grimly rejoins.

“And then there’s the Prophecy—”

“Vang Troi isn’t beholden to that,” he emphatically counters as he lights up another crystal. “This is the same woman who let your brother into the Wyvernguard despite multiple petitions and protests, as well as a number of other Mages and Mage-blooded soldiers, myself included. She’s a maverick, but she’s also the military genius responsible for keeping your grandmother out of the East during the Realm War, so she’s granted quite a bit of leeway by the Noi Conclave. And don’t forget, the Icaral of Prophecy himself is lobbying on your behalf.”

“Still...if she denies Yvan,” I press, “where does that leave you?”

He pauses, meeting my gaze. “Elloren, I’m with you.”

“But you’ve only just met me.”