“I’m not like Shirene. She wouldn’t have left,” I reply. Quickly, I count up the years that Shirene has been a warrior. “You were in the same cohort, weren’t you?”

“We shared a room first year,” she replies. “You are more like your sister than you think.”

“How?”

“Because you’re learning,” she says calmly. “There are plenty of warriors—sentinels, too—who only obey, only follow. The Heliana needs those warriors, but it also needs the ones who doubt and ask questions. If you hadn’t left, we would never have known how the humans learned our language. We wouldn’t have found the cure. And that ass of a human wouldn’t have a knife wound in his hand.”

The last of her words gets me, and I stifle a laugh. Still, I feel every ounce of shame pressing down on me like I am twenty feet below the sea’s surface.

“If obedience was the only thing that mattered, you might never become the best warrior. Not second best or anywhere near the top,” Io says. “But what makes you a great warrior is knowing where to draw your lines and how you act on them.” She puts her hand on my shoulder in respect. “When it comes time to defend your choice to the king, you can count on my help. And it’s not just because you’re Shirene’s little sister.”

“Thank you,” I reply. “That means a lot to me.”

She trudges back over to the others, rousing them with not-so-gentle shoves with her foot. She gives the order, and we move out.

Every ridge we climb over seems higher. Every hillside steeper. The terrain goes from grassy to muddy to thick with trees. Overhead, an overcast sky makes it nearly impossible to judge the angle of the sun.

Up ahead, Io holds up her arm, and we come to a tense stop. Jai swears under his breath, and when I catch his eye, he shakes his head with a smile. I’m tired, he mouths to me, and I nod in agreement. But with Prince Tabrol’s life in our hands, we have to push harder than we ever have before.

We are shadows against a bleak horizon, and we are running out of time.

We hear the first hoofbeats about an hour after sunrise. When we come to a moment’s rest at the top of a large hill, Jai pulls his quiver forward, taking stock of the arrows he has left.

“Commander,” he says, addressing Io. “Permission to stay behind.”

Her large eyes take in his determined gaze and the bow in his hands. Without a word, we all understand what he’s decided—he’ll stay back and buy us valuable time.

Io gives him a firm nod. “Loyalty above all.”

“Loyalty above all.”