“I am not so arrogant as to find a bard solely for him to sing my songs. You are good at tales, but you would make a better ruler for a kingdom mistreated by tyrants for far too long. I am sorry for what happened to Princess Esther, Your Highness. We can choose who we love, but we cannot choose who loves us. Your father was a tyrant in his own way—but you are not. For the good of Drycht’s future, you must be kept out of harm’s way.”

“I am a bard more than I am a king. And I am not the last of my lineage. Please. Let me do one last service for you.”

She paused, staring at me with the gentlest look on her face.

And then, as she had done with her brother, she extended her hand.

“We will fight her together then,” she said.

I nodded, then clarified, “Altaecia? She is Druj, right?”

“No.” Her smile this time was grim. “Druj is a woman who has hidden herself away within the Willows for decades. A woman who has counseled me and others for so long, with none of us the wiser. Not Altaecia. Someone else.”

24

Druj may have intended to foist the Dark on me to instill new fears, but he underestimated my newfound strength. My mind barreled past the borders of Kion back into the territories of Odalia and beyond, and I was stunned by the impossible that I could manage. I flitted from the nearest thought to the next, using them as stepping-stones as I expanded my Scrying to search for one mind in particular, traveling from Odalian guard to Kion farmer to Yadoshan merchant, but found nothing of Altaecia’s mind in that whole continent. Where was she?

I changed targets, and this time located Zoya’s mind. She was on her way back to Ankyo with the other asha, but my mentor was nowhere nearby. Altaecia had sent Zoya and most of the other asha back to Kion, while she had remained behind…but for what? What was she waiting for?

I should have known. I should have known. The visions of the future Lord Agnarr told me I would gain, the crescent symbol carved into the rock at Mithra’s Wall—the same design as the zivar I had worn for so many years. How blind could I be?

Naturally, Kalen refused when I told him of my intentions. “We haven’t gotten this far for you to do this alone.” I couldn’t blame him for his anger.

“She wants something from me, and I can’t put any of you at more risk than I already have.” I didn’t want to return to Ankyo. You’ll return to Kion to mourn on graves, the Fox from Stranger’s Peak had told me.

“This is not up for discussion. You should know that by now.”