‘Eka is going that way, with her people. After what happened to her brother, well, she’s had it with centralized rebellion. She’s going home too, which is Svipina – basically next door! I’ll let her escort me, and we’ll be keeping close if the time comes, keeping things local. So now you can decide for yourself: do you want to come home, with me – back to your family – and put all this royal nonsense behind you? Or are you sticking with your prince on the road to madness?’

Chel could feel the beat of his heart in his chest, the thump of his pulse at his throat. ‘I’m his first sworn, Sab. Duty commands I …’ He tailed off under the force of her gaze.

‘You’ve nothing left to prove, Bear. You can choose for yourself.’

‘I need to discharge my oath, to do what’s right. Father would—’

‘Bear! Father would be proud of you already, for all you’ve done. You don’t have to throw your life away—’

‘No, Sab. We failed, remember? We made things worse. I made things worse. I have to fix it.’

‘Not everything is your fault, big brother, despite what I may have told you in the past, and not everything can be fixed. What do you want to do, Vedren? Bugger duty and oaths and all that for once. What is it that you want?’

He scratched at the back of his head, jaw working, trying to corral the words. What did he want? When had that last mattered? He’d been bound by obligation since before his father died, and every day since had merely brought more Tasks That Must Be Accomplished. The notion of a life without demands seemed as appealing as it was absurd. Also, if he really thought about it, he’d be very keen to have the chance to get close to—

She was looking at him sidelong. ‘If you want to go, you want to go, Bear. Just make sure you’re being honest with yourself about why. Without the oath, would you be coming home to us? When this is over, when you’ve saved the world, will you be coming home then?’

The thought of returning home soured his guts – to slink back, face his family’s disapproval, his step-father’s contempt, his mother’s shame …

His mouth opened and closed. ‘I … I need to do what’s right …’

‘Hush, Bear of mine, don’t tie yourself in knots.’ She hugged him again, then cuffed him again. ‘I’m still so, so angry with you, getting all mixed up in this. Why couldn’t you have just stuck with hobnobbing with princes and dukes? How have you become a fugitive freedom fighter?’

He shrugged, feeling his weak shoulder click in its socket. It was worse in cold weather.

‘I swore—’