She’s always running around exploring the woods here. That’s what Ellian had said. Isla spent her whole days—no, her whole life—exploring what little of the world was safe for her to. The fact that she could find what no one else could was a matter of the world having given up on looking, and Isla not knowing that she shouldn’t.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Isla.” She leans forward suddenly, wrapping my arm in a tight squeeze.

“Thank you, too,” she says.

“For what?”

“For finding us.”

We walk the short distance back to the cottage. Ellian stands in the doorway, looking more curious than cross. She’s woken up to a missing daughter before.

I wait while Isla excitedly reports to her mother where the plant came from. For a moment, Ellian looks frustrated, but it melts into confusion more than anything else.

“She never told me,” Ellian says, switching to our shared language. “If I’d known, I would have sent you there.”

“That’s okay,” I say, laying the blanket out on the ground. Isla, reading my thoughts, excitedly fetches my bag from where I’d left it near my bed.

Ellian crouches down, taking one of the delicate flowers between her fingertips. “This will save the prince,” she says reverently.

“It could save a hundred princes,” I reply, trying to focus on that joyful fact and not the growing pit of dread in my stomach. “It will save the city. I just have to make it back in time.” My hair falls in my face, and I brush it back, annoyed, as I look at the growing light coming in from outside. “Tabrol has at least day and a half left, maybe even two. If I leave right now and don’t stop, I can make it. I can find the train again and—”

Ellian frowns. “What of your companions?”

I freeze, my heart pounding as I draw out the words. “I’ll go on without them. I have to.”

“Will you be able to make it all the way back on your own, though?” she asks. “It’s a long way from here back to the Cliffs.”

My heart thuds. “The prince does not have time for me to take detours.”

“It’s not a detour,” Ellian replies quickly. “If we go into Ramsgate, I could help you get passage on a riverboat. Barges travel back and forth, bringing materials from the mines and mountains to Ramsgate. I can walk you to the city, and we’ll see if we hear of your companions. If not, you can take a barge.”

I open my mouth to protest again, but Ellian’s face has lit up more in the past minute than I’ve seen since we met. If she believes in this plan, I will, too. “It’s no train,” she adds. “But every hour you save is important, isn’t it?”