“The Trylle Queen sent messages to all the kingdoms asking for volunteers,” Rikky explained. “It sounded too important to sit out just because I was mad at Pan.”

“Well, it’s very brave of you to be here,” I said.

“I’ve always helped those who need it.” Rikky put too much weight on her injured leg, and she winced.

“Lean on me,” I told her. “I got you.”

When we made it to the girjastu, Dagny and Sumi were organizing the space to be a makeshift camp. They had pushed the shelving toward the back to create private spaces for the more seriously injured to be treated, while the rest of the room had pillows and blankets for everyone to get comfortable and water buckets to start allowing them to drink and clean up.

Eliana had a spot right near the front door, where she had set up a cozy sitting area with blankets and hay for herself and two younger girls. As soon as she saw me, she invited us to join her, and Pan and I helped Rikky get settled in with her.

Once we’d finished, Pan and I offered to take water pails down to the well at the end of the hall. Everyone was coughing and dirty, not to mention many of them had serious wounds.

Someone had lit the torches that lined that hall, so Pan and I walked in the warm glow down the cool stone floor. We didn’t say anything at first. The relative silence—the sounds of talking muffled and echoed from the girjastu—was comforting after all the noise and violence of the day.

We were almost to the well when Pan stopped. I paused, looking back at him. His biceps had been wrapped in gauze, taut around the muscle as he stood with his hands on his hips.

“Pan?” I asked.

He stared down at the floor and rubbed his chin. “I . . .”

I set the pails down and stepped closer to him. Then he looked up at me, his lips slightly parted and his eyes dark as night. Without saying anything, he moved in a flash. His mouth on mine, one hand on my face and the other on my waist. I wrapped my arms around him, and he pressed me back against the wall.

He kissed me fiercely, hungrily, in a way I felt all the way through me. The way his hands felt, gripping me like he was afraid to lose me.

He rested his forehead against mine, and he inhaled deeply.

“I love you so much, Ulla,” he said, his voice husky. “I need you to know that. In case anything happens today.”

“I do know,” I said, and he looked me in the eye. “I love you so much. But nothing’s going to happen. We’re going to make it out of this, and we’re going to make our own happily ever after.”