“If all works out for the best, Lord Knox, then the next Drychta fight will be the last that both the Odalians and the Yadoshans shall concern themselves with. And the Kions, for that matter.”

Gulping, I turned to face Althy. Zoya stood with her.

“If you would give Lady Tea and I a moment, Lord Knox?”

The man obliged. Awkwardly, I shuffled my feet. “I was surprised to see you here. I didn’t think Ankyo knew about the Drychta yet.”

“The pigeons we sent to Yadosha never returned. It made Empress Alyx suspicious. So she sent out a small entourage of asha under my charge to investigate. That was a week and a half ago. If truth be told, I convinced her to send us here, just in case. By the time she and Fox sent us word of your warning, we were already a day’s ride from Mithra’s Wall.”

I exhaled in relief. So Fox had heeded my call. “And I suppose you’re planning on bringing me back to Ankyo for my trial?”

The asha snorted. “I don’t condone your decision to leave, Tea. But I am concerned with all the choices you have made since then. You were only to stay in Yadosha and lie low there until Mykkie and I could concoct a way for you to return. And now I find you here, among the Odalians and the Yadoshans, with a Faceless camped within reach.”

“I couldn’t sit by and do nothing, Althy.” Quickly, I related everything that had happened since we had parted ways—the discovery of Blight runes in Thanh, my subsequent journey to meet with the Gorvekai, the trials within Stranger’s Peak. Althy’s brows were pinched together in concern by the time I was done.

“It is troubling,” she said. “I think it was ill-advised of you to volunteer for the mountain’s tests. But I’m relieved that you have emerged unscathed. And here in Mithra’s Wall…you’re much stronger than before, Tea. Controlling a daeva normally takes concentration, yet you were able to handle two with ease, while fighting off a Faceless in one’s head besides.”

“I’m almost jealous,” Zoya said. “Serves me right for staying behind. Stranger’s Peak would have been marvelous to see.”

I shuddered. “I would have gladly traded places with you if I could, Zoya. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

“I can prepare some more herbs for you, to help calm you,” Althy offered.

“Kalen has been giving me the Calming spell nearly every day since we left Kion.”

“The fool,” Zoya scoffed. “Surely he knows it saps his strength.”

“I’ve tried. You know Kalen.”

“I’ll make sure to yell at him for it later. And how is Likh?”

I bit my lip. “She still has the blight, but I don’t know why. We’ve been so careful…”