“You did the right thing,” Pan said quietly, his dark eyes resting thoughtfully on me. “Not telling him. I never trusted Ragnall farther than I could throw him.”

“Why would you throw him?” Dagny asked from the couch.

“No, I wouldn’t. It’s a figure of speech.” Pan glanced between us and Bryn shrugged. “Do trolls really not know that expression?”

“No, it’s nonsensical.” Dagny snorted. “Ulla could throw Ragnall very far.”

“Popular slang in the kingdoms takes hold in the strangest ways,” Bryn said. “King Linus made a joke about something being ‘on fleek’ a few months back at a banquet, because Linus hasn’t had any real contact with humans in five years, and now everyone is saying ‘on fleek.’”

Pan smirked. “I think that was the last time that saying was cool. For a week in 2014.”

“This doesn’t say much about what Ragnall can do,” Dagny said, and flipped the book shut in irritation. “They made sure to include plenty of effusive praise about his high intellect and visionary leadership without mentioning any actual specifics about his skills or qualifications.”

“Even if Ragnall can read minds, that doesn’t mean there was anything for him to read in your mind,” Bryn said.

Dagny let out a loud “Ha!”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that.” Bryn rolled her eyes. “The Älvolk either erased your memory—so there’s nothing there because it’s gone—or they walled off your memory—so it’s still there but with a barrier around it powerful enough that you can’t see through it. That would be very hard for a mind reader to get through.”

“Well, the directory did really run through the thesaurus section on the word ‘powerful,’” Dagny muttered.

“And the memories are still there,” I said. “They must be if some of them are coming back.”

“Why do you think Ragnall might be reading your thoughts?” Pan asked. “He asked a lot of questions, but half the Information Styrelse interrogated me and Dagny.”

“Yeah, you did actually get off easy,” Dagny agreed. “I don’t know how much Ragnall is even interested in Áibmoráigi. When I was looking for him in the directory, I glanced at Amalie’s bio, and hers mentioned that she has championed multiple expeditions to find the First City. It’s clearly something she’s been pursuing for decades, but Ragnall’s bio only talks of vague aspirations like ‘helping the Mimirin Talo achieve even greater excellence.’”

“He didn’t ask me anything about Áibmoráigi specifically, or how to find it,” I said. “Actually, he didn’t really ask me much at all. He only seemed focused on making sure I was okay and if I remember anything.”

Bryn narrowed her eyes. “He was making sure you don’t remember anything?”