When I emerged from my room, I found Kiva talking to Auma in the doorway. Kiva leaned against the door frame, arms folded, posture softer than she ever allowed it to be. Around her side, I could just see Auma, so much smaller yet somehow equally as strong a presence.

Lunch had been delivered and now sat on the table, an assortment of sandwiches and tea. When Auma spotted me, she bowed and excused herself.

“What do you two talk about?” I asked, settling down to eat.

“We don’t, really.” Kiva joined me at the table. “She listens a lot.”

“You always did like the quiet ones.”

She rolled her eyes before her expression hardened. “She told me how she ended up here. Serving Razel.”

I paused halfway through a sandwich bite and swallowed hard. “I have a feeling it’s not a nice story.”

Kiva swirled her teacup in a slow circle. “She was fourteen when Illucia attacked the capital. Her mother died in battle, and her father was a guild leader. He refused to step down, so the Illucians killed him too.”

I set the sandwich down, the sight of it making my stomach squirm. When I’d learned about Illucia’s victory over Jindae in my lessons, it’d seemed so far away. Since the guild leaders handled most of the day-to-day politics in Jindae, the first thing Razel did was demand their allegiance. Those who didn’t relinquish their authority lost their lives instead.

Hearing it again now, knowing Auma—my hands curled into fists.

“They conscripted her older brother too.” With each word, Kiva’s expression darkened, her hand straying to Sinvarra as if the blade could fight away these truths. “She used the last of her money to pay a merchant traveling to Sordell for travel so she could follow her brother here. She earned a position as a servant at the castle and has been trying to find him since.”

Her words settled like hot coals in the pit of my stomach. “I can’t believe my mother never did anything to help. Rhodaire let this happen.”

Kiva’s hand tightened around Sinvarra’s hilt. “That’s why we’re going to help undo it. Starting with tonight.”

* * *

By the time we ordered the carriage, my nerves were bolts of lightning zipping through my veins. What if the rebel leader didn’t come? What if they refused to help? With no news from Jindae, Trendell, or Korovi and no progress on hatching the egg, this meeting was the real first step toward stopping Illucia.

It had to go perfectly, and that started with Ericen convincing Razel to remove our escort.

As Kiva and I reached the front courtyard where the carriage waited, I slowed, scanning the sodden grounds. No Vykryn.

“I guess Ericen kept his word,” Kiva said.