Since he was half-human and a technical claimant to the throne, the Kanin kingdom refused to acknowledge Pan’s request for a paternity test against Elliot’s blood. The Inhemsk Project worked hard to discover the proper lineages of trolls of mixed blood and find their place in the kingdoms, but they only had limited power within the Mimirin. Pan would likely never get confirmation one way or the other that Elliot was his father.

But looking at the portrait of Elliot on his coronation, painted when he was younger even than Pan was now, I could see the resemblance was undeniable—the same dark eyes, full lips with the subtle smile at the corners of the mouth, thick sharp eyebrows, and strong shape of the jaw.

When Bryn had shown me everything of interest—including the new chandelier with a bajillion crystals that had to be replaced after the Invasion of Doldastam—we went back to her apartment. We sat on the balcony, our feet propped up on the railing, sipping wine and watching the late-evening sun setting slowly over the boreal forest that surrounded the city.

“Thank you for showing me around today,” I told her. “I’ve had kind of a rough summer, and it was nice to have a vacation from that.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” She took a big gulp of her drink. “Sorry for being distant today.”

“No, I’m sorry for dropping a big downer like that on you.”

“It’s definitely not a fun way to start the day, but I’m glad you told me. It’s just a surreal thing to think that my entire life has been based around the fact that I was born half-Kanin, and it turns out that might not even be true.”

“I can only imagine.”

“You met Indu, right?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I think I spent about a month with him, but I don’t remember most of it.”

“He erased your memory so you wouldn’t remember what he’d done.” Her voice was hard and flat. “He’s a real bastard, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, I think he is.”

“You don’t know what he wants? Why he’s going out, knocking up ladies, building up an army of daughters, and stealing your blood?” she asked.

“He’s also collecting rare flowers from the Vittra,” I added.

“So he’s an eccentric bastard,” she said wryly.

“I’m working with a Trylle healer, and I’m hoping that if I get my memories back, I’ll know what’s really going on,” I said.

“I know some of them. Which healer?”

“Sunniva Kroner. Her brother Tove is helping too.”

“Mmm.” She took another drink. “The Kroners are powerful. If anyone can do it, they can.”

“I hope so.”

Bryn was silent, and in the fading light, her jaw tensed as she stared up at the sky. “I have to know.”

“What?” I asked.