“You are sure of the number?” says a new voice, but one that I’ve known my whole life. Shirene is far from calm, but at least she’s not shouting.

“Yes,” Noam says. “It must be because the disease is new to Leonodai. I was assured it took ten days.”

“The warriors have been sent already,” says Shirene. “They think they have more time.”

A final voice, a deeper one that I guess is Sentinel Hammond’s, speaks next. “We must go to the king at once.”

“You, too,” is Renna’s reply. The scrape of a chair against the floor tells me she’s been talking to Noam.

My hand cramps from how tightly I’ve gripped my dress, but I don’t move. The sun presses into my skin as I keep totally still. The minutes tick by. Whether I am being careful to not get caught or paralyzed by the revelations of the last few minutes, it’s hard to tell.

Prince Tabrol has the disease, and now the children are dying too fast. The warriors who were sent were told to take every precaution—and precautions can come in the form of longer rests to avoid detection, or sleeping a full night to make sure their weary selves can make the full journey. They’ll want to make it home as quickly as possible, of course, but not every commander will take great risks. Someone like Seth surely won’t, unless he knows what is truly at stake.

I have to help get the news to them. But how? I have orders to stay at the Warriors’ Hall. To go find a team … that means I will have to go without anyone’s permission.

My body sways with the thought. Skies keep me. Have I really just considered leaving the Heliana, like Noam? Only it isn’t like Noam. He left to prove a point. I’ll be leaving to save my city.

No. This is crazy. I am just a crazy girl standing on a rooftop, not thinking straight. But my breath is skimming in my chest for another reason, too. How can the sentinels believe they always know best? It isn’t fair that they are keeping things from the citizens. Doesn’t “loyalty above all” include honesty with the people who look to you for guidance?

I groan aloud. Unsure what to do, I take my lioness form and fly low around the palace and back to Storm’s End. My mother will have something for me to do, some new way of helping her and the other schools. If I keep my hands busy, then maybe I’ll be able to forget what I’ve just found out long enough for the teams to return with the cure, and everything will be fine.