“Her name is Khoreval,” Thaena explained. “An old friend owned her. If I’m correct, then she’s one of the few weapons in the whole world that may be able to slay a dragon. I regret I cannot give you the weapon itself.”

I looked up at the goddess, meeting her smile with my own. “Is that so?” Then her words sank in. “What do you mean, you cannot give me the weapon? It’s right here.”

“No child, this is but a seeming. The real Khoreval is kept hidden behind many locks in the palace of Azhen Kaen, Duke of Yor, who is Relos Var’s champion.”

“That does complicate matters.”

“So it seems I’m giving you a quest rather than granting you a boon. Recover this spear in the Living World. If the spear is capable of slaying dragons, then you have an opportunity to remove one of Relos Var’s greatest weapons—Aeyan’arric.”

“Mother, that’s reckless. Even the Brotherhood have never been able to infiltrate the Ice Demesne—”

She raised a hand. He fell silent.

I smiled at him, flattered at his concern for my safety. “Your son isn’t wrong, you know. I haven’t the slightest idea how I would infiltrate such a camp. I’m not a thief or a spy.”

Thaena tilted her head in my direction. “When you reach Atrine, look for a man named Mithros. He runs a mercenary company of free riders. He’ll be only too glad to counsel you in how to best tackle this problem.”

“Mother, you can’t ask her to do this.”

Thaena gave him a look to make a thousand elephants stampede.

“It’s too dangerous,” he insisted. “Relos Var will destroy her, assuming Duke Kaen doesn’t do it first. There’s no way Relos Var won’t know who she is. There’s no disguising her. No pretending she’s someone else.”

“Yes,” Thaena agreed, her voice soft and dangerous. “I’m counting on that. I’m counting on that very thing. I know he won’t hurt her. He loves to turn our families against us. She’ll be irresistible to him.”

“It’s not your decision,” I scolded the vané, who seemed rather surprised at my interruption. “It’s mine.”

“You don’t know the risks—”

“What risks would matter? That he controls people and forces capable of killing thousands? I already know. That he has magic and power beyond my ability to fathom? I knew that when Thaena herself told me she can’t defeat him. I know it’s dangerous. Does that matter when so many lives are at stake?”

He scowled. “Why must you be so stubborn?”

“Why must you think I can’t decide my own path?”

He drew himself up. “I didn’t say that.”