I leaned forward. “Different how?”
“He cares about his people. Does not support his father’s obsession. If you could dethrone the King, the Prince might agree to peace.”
“Might?” Mal asked.
“Politics are never certain. But it is possible.”
Hope filled my chest. Yes. An opportunity. That was all I asked for.
“How do we dethrone a king?” I asked.
Tyreen’s smile was grim. “Carefully. And we will need to meet with the Prince first, gauge his willingness.”
“It’s dangerous,” Casimya said quietly.
“Everything is dangerous now,” Tyreen replied, shrugging, her face stony. But I knew she believed the odds were on our side, and she was right. It made sense, we had the bigger numbers. But if we could avoid the bloodshed?Perfect.
We talked through possibilities and strategies for hours, thinking of every single possibility, every weakness Tyreen could think about Igryside. There weren’t many, unfortunately. Finally, Tyreen stood and began packing.
“I will teach you everything I know,” she said, pulling items from shelves. My shoulders sagged with relief. I had been dreading inviting her to Lytopia, because I didn’t want to face her rejection. Now that I’d found a link to my past, I really didn’t want to let it go. So the fact that she willingly suggested coming with us? It felt like destiny. “You and your son.”
“Thank you,” I said, my voice thick.
She looked at me with soft eyes. “You are family, Gwendolyn. Never doubt that.”
It took me a few minutes to swallow down the lump on my throat. Tyreen packed quickly, just one bag with personal things she’d gathered over decades of running. Not much, but meaningful.
“Ready?” I asked when she’d finished.
“Ready,” she confirmed.
Then I stood in the center of the cottage and focused. Time to open a portal home. No swamps, no chicken coops, preferably no naked noblemen. Justhome.
“Okay, Ravenor throne room, I can do this,” I muttered, concentrating hard.
Tyreen moved to stand beside me. “Feel the destination. Not just see it. Feel it. Feel what you think you’d feel standing there in this moment. Go through your senses, one by one. What you see, what you smell, what you hear…”
“I’m trying,” I said, frustrated as the portal flickered uncertainly. It was doing that thing where it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.
“You are thinking. Stop thinking. Feel.” Her hand rested lightly on my shoulder, grounding me. “Close your eyes. Remember what it feels like to be there. The temperature of the air. The echo of the stone. The smell of the torches.”
I closed my eyes and tried again. Not thinking about the location but like she said, feeling it. The cool stone of the throne room beneath my feet. The high ceilings that made every sound echo slightly. The familiar energy of home, of our kingdom, of safety.
The portal opened smoothly, rock-solid stable. No flickering or uncertainty. Just a clean, perfect opening to exactly where I wanted to go.
I opened my eyes and stared at it in shock. “I did it.”
“You did it,” Tyreen confirmed, smiling proudly. “You have the power. You always had the power. You just needed guidance.”
Casimya was watching Tyreen with undisguised fascination. “Your teaching method is remarkable. I have been working with her for weeks.”
“Feel, not think. The body knows what the mind forgets.” Tyreen shrugged modestly. “I have had centuries to practice with Marya.”
“I would like to learn from you,” Casimya said, and there was respect in her voice I’d rarely heard before.
“That can definitely be arranged,” Tyreen said warmly. “If there’s something I have, it’s time.”
Tyreen took one last look around her cottage. Then she picked up her bag and walked toward the portal without looking back.
