“Sol.” I don’t know what to say. I want to say, I’m sorry we got separated. I’m sorry you were turned into a fox. I’m sorry I scared you. I’m sorry for making you worry. I’m sorry I have to finish this for us.

But I can’t make any of those words come out, so instead, I say, “How’s your ankle?”

Our two identical sets of wide, dark eyes trace down her leggings to the swollen, bandaged, vaguely ankle-shaped lump at the bottom. “Better,” she lies, forcing a smile.

With a quiet groan, Olani leans in, pressing one hand firmly over Isolde’s shin. It’s almost big enough to wrap all the way around her slender leg. “Liar,” the healer mutters. “It hurts like hexes.”

Isolde pouts, glancing at me. “I was trying to put on a brave face.”

Olani sighs. I watch her breathe slowly and deeply, eyes closing as her face crinkles with concentration.

“Wait,” I say, one hand hovering over hers. “Are you strong enough for this?”

She just glares at me. “Let me help.”

It doesn’t escape me that she didn’t answer the question.

Suddenly, Raze is behind us, still stretching. “Good morning,” he yawns, putting more effort into sounding cheerful than is necessary or wanted.

I take Isolde’s hand. She squeezes tight as the sensation of Olani’s healing flows to the pain in her ankle, then relaxes. “That’s better.”

Olani smiles, pushing back escaped locks of hair from her forehead. “You’re still not going anywhere fast.”

We split a meager, pitiful breakfast of the few edible herbs from Olani’s medicine bag and discuss what we already know has to happen.

“So Raze and I will go,” I conclude, folding my arms over my chest. This takes some arranging, since I’m wearing his utterly impractical shirt over my dress to cover my arms and shoulders, tied at the waist and rolled up at the sleeves. He’s down to just a long-sleeved undershirt, cut low to accommodate the billowy shirt, and Isolde is barefoot, since I needed her soft faerie boots more than she does. “You’re both hurt, and I hate leaving you alone, but—”

Isolde nods. “We need to make this as quick as possible, whether I like it or not.”

I don’t know what to say. This was always supposed to be her adventure, and now we’re so close to the end of it. I should feel relieved, but I’m more anxious than ever.

Olani lets out a deep sigh. “You’re right.” Despite the toll exhaustion and injury have taken, her dark brown skin still catches the light as she folds her arms across her chest. “I’ll see what I can do to speed up the healing. You two go find the Keep.”

Raze nods, but guilt shades his face as his eyes fall on the dark blood staining her clothes. “Olani, I am so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you get involved in this.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Let me?”