“I love my cousin. She is the most loyal person in my life,” Lina murmured. “If only her loyalty extended beyond that. She married Saika young and they’ve had their ups and downs, and . . . When they had their rough patches, Delta would go away, acting as an ambassador for the West in other courts while she worked out her feelings.”

“How lucky for her to have someone to work out her feelings with,” Bri gritted out.

“I didn’t know about it then,” Lina said. “What she did was wrong. I’m sorry she hurt you.”

“Please.” Bri rubbed her hand down her neck and shoulder. “I was never heartsick over Delta.”

“You don’t still care for her?” Lina asked tentatively. It was such a gentle move coming from someone so formidable, as if she were nervous to hear Bri’s response.

“No,” Bri said, wanting so badly to reach out and grab the hands Lina clasped together.

“But she was also your friend and she lied to you,” Lina said. “That hurts.”

Bri shrugged. “I’ve been through worse.”

“As have I,” Lina whispered, looking back up at the tree.

Bri unbuckled the amethyst dagger from her belt and passed it to Lina. “You should be the one hanging on to this.”

Lina’s brows pinched together as she accepted the weapon, turning it over in her hands to inspect it. “Have you been able to decipher the inscriptions?”

“Not yet.”

“I’m going to the brown witch temple tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll ask Baba Omly.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Bri replied, smiling as Lina rolled her eyes.

“Of course,” she muttered. “My shadow.”

They held each other’s gaze for a long time before Lina finally looked away.

“There are five trees growing through the palace rooftop,” Bri mused, nodding to the tree in front of them. “Plus this one here. Why five?”

“My mother planted this tree on the day of my birth,” Lina whispered. “Just as her parents did for her and her sister, and their parents before them. . . . Not all of the trees grow, fewer still crack through the ceiling toward the sky. But if they survive and thrive, it is a good omen for the West. Those trees bursting along the roofline of the castle are the spirits of my ancestors, a reminder to my people that the Thorne legacy lives on. I’ve always wondered if my tree will reach as high.”

“It will,” Bri whispered.