“I understand that you have a duty to the other asha, to the kingdoms that benefit from the runes they wield. You know more than I do of how heartsglass can help people, how my brother helps people. There are ramifications to losing that power, and it will affect everyone.” Kance fell silent for several minutes, though his hand never left mine.

“But do it anyway,” he said finally. “My brother will help people whether or not he remains the Heartforger. There will no longer be beasts to roam the land and attack people. With or without heartsglass, there will always be war. The asha and the Deathseekers will fade and become like the rest of us. They will learn in time that our existence is not so bad. I beg of you, Tea—if you have the opportunity to rid yourself of the magic that will one day consume you, then do it.”

“I cannot lose my brother again, Kance.” Tears dripped down to where our hands were joined. “I cannot. If you were in my place, and the price was Khalad, could you do it?” A silver heartsglass and the Resurrecting rune, Aenah’s voice whispered in my head, as if she hadn’t been dead all these months. And a kiss from the First Harvest. That’s all you need to bring young Fox Pahlavi his own heart, my Tea. But the harvest requires shadowglass, and shadowglass requires sacrifice. Surely he is worth the risk?

Kance withdrew his hand from mine, his face immeasurably sad. He stood and drew his cloak around himself, but not before his heartsglass swung free. My eyes followed the movement and spotted a smaller crystal pendant that hung from the same chain. He saw where my gaze drifted and touched the smaller stone with a finger.

“You told me it would help with my exhaustion. You gave this to me the night my engagement to Inessa was finalized,” he said quietly. “My anger at you in the days that followed did not prevent me from drawing comfort from your gift, and I am never without it. You are right. I could not ask that of Khalad. But had I been in his or your brother’s place, I would like to believe I could offer my life willingly.”

He sighed. “Maddening, isn’t it? The bonds that tie us together are the same bonds preventing us from what we would sacrifice for ourselves. I will let Kalen know that you are awake.”

• • •

“Do you mean to tell me,” Zoya said much later, sounding incredulous, “that Druj intended to turn King Aadil over to us all along?”

“It seems that way.” Once Kalen decided I was fit enough to get out of bed, I had emerged to find the Odalians hastily erecting makeshift prisons for the compliant Drychta. “Druj knew there was no First Harvest in Mithra’s Wall yet convinced the king to invade.” To seek me out.