I roll my eyes, fighting a smile. After a year at Confluence, Mireen has lost none of her irreverent spirit. If anything, surviving the Crucible has only made her more determined to find moments of joy amidst the danger. It's one of the things I love most about her.

"So you and Jorvan are old news, then?” I ask.

She shrugs, sending another bird out the window with a whispered message. "Jorvan couldn’t handle me. Anyway, Ambrose thinks the birds are a genius idea. Says if we ever need to coordinate outside the academy walls, these little friends could be invaluable."

I help her coax the remaining birds back to the window ledge, my thoughts turning to the rest of our group. "Any news from the outside?” I ask.

Mireen wiggles her eyebrows. She has a way of getting people to say things they shouldn’t, and has been pestering the Empire guards posted around campus for updates all summer. We’ll likely get our fill soon when classes resume, but we’ve been starved for updates about what’s going on.

“The guard with that silly little mustache did give me a nugget this morning. I think he was in a good mood at the idea of pushing around some offerings. You know the guards love us most when we first arrive. We’re not scary. Yet,” she adds with a wiggle of her red brows.

“Okay,” I say, making a circular gesture to get her to the point. “And the nugget of information?”

“Right. He said there are rumors Krusk fell a few weeks back.” She sees the look of confusion on my face. “A city along the border. Years ago, it was Red Kingdom territory, but Empire took it and has been holding it. The thing is… they say it didn’t fall to Red Kingdom. My little guard friend said silver flags are flying. Flags showing a silver spiral.”

I unconsciously touch the mark on the back of my left hand. We’re all marked to show our affinity when we first arrive, and the mark I was given was a silver spiral. Unbound. Different, deadly, feared, and once hunted to near extinction.

I was able to disguise the mark so it looks like a water affinity mark, though, and aside from the silver threads running through my mark, it’s a perfect disguise.

"Lorkan and Milena," I murmur, the names sending a chill down my spine despite the warm summer air drifting through the open window.

Mireen nods, suddenly solemn. "Makes sense. Right? But it sounds like they had a small army. They’d have to if they wanted to take Krusk. The place is a fortress, and there would’ve been primals stationed there along with soldiers.”

My insides twist.

“What do you think they’re planning?” she asks. “Conquer everything? Gods. Can you imagine?”