She looked just as she had in my lysa, when Illaria had taken her form. Her hair was very long and wavy, and she wore it with a waterfall braid woven through it. Her dark eyes were large and bright, and they were almost hyper vivid.

“Hush, my binrassi,” my mother said. Her voice was low but warm and sweet, like summer tea sweetened with honey and milk. But there was a nervous undercurrent to it, and I noticed the panic in her eyes.

A door cracked open, and she cast a fearful look back over her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat, then she whispered, “My love. I didn’t think you’d be able to get away.”

“I had to make time.” The man’s voice was low; I felt it rumbling through me like bass. He sounded pained, but there was a softness underneath that felt familiar and safe. “I couldn’t let my daughter leave without saying goodbye.”

And then he was there, towering over us. My father, Thor Elak, seemed just as large as he had in his portrait hanging in the Omte palace. He was broad and burly and at least a foot taller than Senka. His eyes were wide and kind, and they were the same color as mine.

He reached down, gently stroking my cheek, and he smiled sadly as he said, “Goodbye, my Princess Violetta.”

“What if Indu sees you here?” my mother asked, and put her hand on his thick biceps.

“He didn’t. I made sure of it.” He spoke to her, but his attention was focused on me. When I squeezed his finger, tears formed in his eyes.

“Are you sure this is the right thing?” Senka sounded desperate now.

Thor turned to her and put his meaty hands warmly on her shoulders. He bent down, so he was closer to her eye level. “Senka, we’ve gone over this. I love you, and I love the baby, but we can’t be a family right now. It’s not safe for her.”

“If we wait longer, until she’s old enough to make the trip back to Alfheim—” She was pleading with him but he cut her off.

“Indu will realize she’s not his daughter,” my father said calmly but firmly. “She has my eyes, Senka, and she’s a strong Omte baby. He’s going to know, and he’s going to kill her.”

“You’re strong and you’re King!” Senka argued. “You can stop him.”

“I can stop him, but I can’t stop all of them,” he said. “And Helge won’t approve sending any more troops. I need to go back to Fulaträsk and get my kingdom to loosen the purse strings. But you and the baby need to be safe first.”

She looked up at him and put her hand to his face. “But is sending Violetta away safe?”