The snow had gotten worse, and our meals were served to us in the small houses allotted for our visit—hot mutton stew and fresh loaves of bread. Kalen was quiet for most of the meal, chewing on bread and staring out the window. The Fire runes in the room kept us from the cold, but outside, we could hear the storm growing in strength. Above us, the wooden roof creaked.

“What’s on your mind? You seem preoccupied,” I said.

Kalen smiled briefly. “Just a little tired. I haven’t had much sleep.”

“Because you were watching over me while I did,” I remembered. “Don’t stay up on my behalf. Our hosts were kind enough to prepare beds for us. We have a long flight tomorrow—”

“After you answer me one question. What made you refuse the last trial?”

I stopped, looking into his serious, brown eyes. “I’m not sure why this is important,” I hedged.

“It is to me. You told us everything about the trials of Duty and Honor, but you were recalcitrant when it came to the last. What is it that you’re not telling me?”

I trembled, wavering between confessing and lying, though the latter was no longer an option where he was involved. “It was you. You were dead in a pool of blood. Fox was there, telling me that you were a necessary sacrifice for me to be worthy. And I couldn’t—you were dead, and I couldn’t…”

I saw no surprise in his heartsglass, only a quiet sadness.

“You knew?” I whispered.

“I knew it was a possibility.” He gathered my hands in his. “The world is a much bigger place than the space I occupy, and with even greater consequences.”

“There will be no world if you aren’t here with me, Kalen.” I was shocked by the vehemence of my words, my anger that he would even consider it.

“I asked you to run away with me, to make our own small mark in the world.” His voice trembled, proof he was more shaken than he would have me believe.

“If I agree to run away with you, and we learn that Kance is in trouble a month later, would you stay away?”

He hesitated.

“And yet, I know you love me.”

“Let me modify my original proposal, then. Run away with me. And if a daeva returns, or if Fox or Kance or Mykaela or anyone else finds themselves in trouble, then we discuss the means to aid them without attracting the elders’ attention.”

“That’s not very fair of you,” I whispered.

“I’m not trying to be. The only thing stopping you from saying yes is your guilt.”

“I don’t deserve a happy ending.”