“It gives Illucia a foothold in Rhodaire. She can’t take it by force easily. Nearly a quarter of her army is running Jindae, another chunk is in the Ambriels, and now I hear she’s threatening Korovi. Why squander men attacking Rhodaire if she can take it some other way?”

“Marrying me to Ericen won’t give her control of the kingdom. There has to be another step to her plan.”

Or another motive altogether. But what?

I ran my fingers over the egg, and it hummed against my skin. The feeling was both exhilarating and comforting at once. “I have to hatch this egg. If we had even one crow, Illucia would think twice about what they’re doing. It’s the only chance we have of protecting Rhodaire and my only chance of not marrying that bastard.”

Kiva stared at me like I’d sprouted wings. “Be careful. You’re dangerously close to sounding like this girl I used to know. Tongue as sharp as a crow’s talons, menace to authorities everywhere, about this tall.” She held a hand to her chest, a good few inches shorter than my actual height.

I glowered but couldn’t suppress my smile. Kiva had a way of pulling me out of myself, perfected over a lifetime of friendship. I couldn’t remember a time without her at my side. She filled my memories: sneaking into the riding school to watch the riders train, stealing orange cakes from the kitchens before dinner, hiding Caliza’s books whenever she left her study table unguarded in the library.

Kiva had been there every minute to say what a bad idea it was, but she had always stayed. She was always there for me, like she had been for every day of the exhausting cycle of despair that had imprisoned me since Ronoch. I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, and lying there made me lethargic until my limbs became weights holding me down. My head would hurt, turning my thoughts slow and difficult, each one taking more effort than it was worth, until all I wanted was to fall asleep again. But sleep made it worse.

Without her, I’d never have started getting out of bed. I never would have left my room today, and I might not have ended up in the rookery.

Kiva grinned at my feigned annoyance. “Anyway, it got buried under rubble and nearly incinerated. Whatever’s inside is probably dead.”

“Crow eggs are filled with magic. It could have survived.” The egg hummed in my arms as if agreeing.

Kiva looked doubtful but held out a hand. “All right. Let’s crack it open and find out.”

I hugged the egg against my body. “You can’t just crack it open! It has to hatch naturally.”

“How?”