“I think we can survive on what’s in our packs tonight,” Vesryn said as he and Aesar stepped into the enclosure, their cheeks flushed and breaths still heavy.
Fenn tilted his head with exaggerated innocence. “Is your royal stomach too delicate to live off the wilds?”
Vesryn shot him a scowl, dusting snow from his cloak before shrugging the furs back on. He arranged the mantle beneath himself before dropping to the ground, lounging back against the rocky wall. “That furry crab you hauled in last night tasted like it was dredged up from a bog.”
“Snow crawler,” Fenn corrected.
Aesar chuckled as he settled beside the prince, laying his glaives aside. “And yet Vesryn was the one asking for thirds.”
The prince rolled his eyes but didn’t waste more effort on arguing.
Grinning with his victory, Fenn set to starting the fire, striking his talons against a rock. Sparks scattered across thekindling, catching on the dried wood. Flickering to life, the flames crackled as they grew, warmth slowly chasing away the relentless chill.
By the time the stars finished dotting to life across the sky’s dark canvas, everyone had regenerated and dined on Fenn’s hearty soup, a concoction of dried meat and lentils. Serenna nearly choked on a steaming mouthful when Vesryn—having already finished two helpings—fished the Starshard out from his cloak.
The crystal no more than glinted in the firelight before Serenna instinctively slammed a shield around herself. The violet dome pulsed with her irritation, her magic reacting faster than her thoughts.
“Do you have to fiddle with that thingeverynight?” she demanded, her voice nearly a screech.
Vesryn pursed his lips, turning the Starshard over in his hands as if it were a mere gem to admire rather than catastrophe poised to strike. “I don’t know how many times I have to assure you that it hasn’t done anything since the tree released it.”
“That doesn’t mean itwon’t,” Serenna protested. She set her bowl aside and crossed her arms tightly beneath her cloak, scooting back to put as much distance as possible between herself and the crystal. “It’s still unsettling how close you keep it.”
Beside the prince, Aesar drew out his Heart of Stars, the artifact bursting into light with the five colors of his talents. Rather than leaving both relics behind with Mara in the jungle, Lykor had insisted on bringing at least one with them. Aesar and Vesryn leaned in together, expressions intent as they compared the two, murmuring in low tones.
Uninterested in witnessing the Starshard discharging its power and obliterating them to ash, Serenna retreated to where Jassyn and Fenn were cleaning dishes—their night for the chore.
As soon as they finished, Jassyn wandered back to the brothers while Fenn warped away, still hoping to find a creature to hunt. Serenna took her time lingering in their snow dome, doing what little she could to wash up.
By the time she returned to the fire, she breathed a little easier—Vesryn had tucked the Starshard away and was now channeling delicate ribbons of illumination.
Across from him, Aesar sat next to Jassyn, their heads bent over one of the tomes brought from the jungle. Fragments of their low conversation concerning bloodlines and shamans floated above the crackling fire.
Serenna wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and settled beside the prince. “You mentioned that the king harnessed illumination differently?” she asked hesitantly, following the threads of light whirling around his palms. “Like what the Starshard unleashed at us in the jungle?”
Vesryn’s frown deepened, the silver wisps flaring brightly before dimming. “Aesar didn’t have any more insight into its nature,” he admitted, eyes flicking to his brother and cousin poring over their book. “But Lykor’s right about one thing—our abilities have tiers. I should have realized it sooner, knowing what rending can do.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw before he added, “I just need to figure out how the king turned illumination into a weapon. If we face it again, we need to know how to counter it. Or summon it ourselves.”
His brows furrowed and Serenna sensed his frustration rising. Essence pulsed against the snow-packed walls, each surge pressing harder as he strained to force the magic into something more.
Serenna flinched as blinding white light erupted between Vesryn’s palms, a burst of heat punching through the air.Essence extinguished abruptly as he jerked back with a sharp hiss.
Heart pounding, Serenna gasped as he shook out his hands, the acrid stench of singed flesh rising around them.
“It’s nothing,” Vesryn mumbled, wincing as he attempted to hide his palms in his cloak.
“If it’snothing, then why do I feel it stinging through the bond?” Shifting to kneel beside him, Serenna seized his wrists, tugging his hands into the firelight. Raw blisters and angry welts streaked his skin.
Serenna ignited mending light as Vesryn waved off the concern from Aesar and Jassyn, who quickly returned to their quiet discussion. She met his eyes as pinpricks of unease crept down her spine.
“Illumination burned you,” she whispered, winding healing lattices around his hands, her palms turning clammy while his stayed warm.
Vesryn didn’t seem to hear her. His eyes glimmered with a wonder far removed from pain. “So something else with the talentispossible.” A soft chuckle escaped him as he stared nearly transfixed at the wounds that faded under her touch.
Serenna tightened her grip around his fingers, tugging his attention back to her. “You have to be careful.” Her stomach churned as his excitement swelled, his thoughts obviously not on his injuries, but on the power that had caused them. “Our own magic shouldn’t affect us. But this is somehow different.”
“Then I’ll just make sure I don’t have it so close to me next time,” Vesryn said dismissively, pulling free from her grasp. He flexed his fingers experimentally, flaring a fresh orb of light to life as an unmistakable spark ignited in his eyes.
