“Skies. Okay. Let me explain, and don’t interrupt.” My sister’s glossy hair moves in waves as she talks. “There is a human village in the mountains of Balmora. Not many humans go themselves because it’s too far. After he left, Noam sought refuge there. The humans welcomed him, and he’s lived there ever since.”

I think back to the announcements the sentinels had given last year as the search for Noam’s replacement was underway. “But the sentinels said they weren’t ever able to find him.”

“They couldn’t tell anyone they had,” my sister replies. “It would have created more gossip. They—we—let Noam stay in his exile until now. Noam told us and the king what the disease was. How bad it may get, Rowan.”

I lean back. “How can you trust him?”

“At the end of the day, he is Leonodai,” she says. “He knows that, still. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so eager to help us when we went to him for answers.” Her tone gives her away. When she’s thinking like a sentinel, Shirene knows to bottle up. But with me, she forgets.

“You’re worried,” I say.

“Of course I’m worried,” she fires back. “Children are dying.” She straightens, asserting the few inches of height she holds over me. “Just … keep quiet for a few days, okay? Noam’s role in this may come to light after we are through this crisis. Not before. Can you manage that?”

“Hey,” I reply, “I’m not stupid, Shirene. If you weren’t supposed to tell me about him, then that’s on you. But yes, I can keep a secret. I’m a warrior, too.”

“No, you’re not. I am a sentinel, and you are a warrior-elect.”

A lifetime of shrinking back against Shirene’s anger takes hold of me. For a moment, it’s like we’re kids again and she’s telling me to stop following her around, to leave her alone.

She turns from me. “I shouldn’t have even had this conversation. Don’t share what you’ve heard until you hear it announced formally. That’s an order, Warrior-Elect.”

“Understood, Sentinel,” I reply before immediately turning and launching myself off the garden wall, taking my lioness form before Shirene gets a chance to see me cry.

My sister has never pulled rank on me before. Ever. I guess being a sentinel is more important than our shared blood. It’s her duty, my mind whispers, and I know that’s true.

But in my chest, my heart drags toward the sea. I hardly see her anymore, and when I finally have her for a moment, this is what I get? What kind of person is she becoming?

For a moment, I contemplate going back, but when I look around, Shirene’s already gone. Fine. Go back to doing errands for the king.