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He nodded, then he picked up his bag and left the tent. Not even a minute later, Amaria ducked inside. She’d changed out of the blue dress, wearing something similar to Callum’s dark brown pants and tunic that swallowed her body and brought out the warmth in her skin and eyes. She smiled softly as our eyes met.

“The prince said you needed help getting ready,” she said with quiet confidence.

When I didn’t say anything, she moved to the bags Callum had been sorting through, pulling one from the pile and bringing it over to me. She pulled all the bits of metal from my hair, dropping them into a small, unadorned box before brushing through the long strands. When she was finished, she undid the tie at the collar of the dress and let it fall around my waist. Her hands were nimble as they undid the laces of the stays. When she helped me to my feet with a soft hand under my elbow, both pieces of clothing dropped to the ground around my feet in a heavy thump.

“Do you want to keep your chemise on?”

“Is that typical?” I asked.

Amaria shrugged. “Personal preference, mostly.”

It was cold enough, I was pretty sure the extra layer would be helpful overnight. I nodded. She guided the same style of tunic as hers over my head, leaving the collar unlaced. Then she offered me the pants and held my elbow in silent support as I pulled them on. Once I was standing again, she pulled blankets from a different bag and draped them over the cot, and then she set about putting away everything I’d worn, repacking the saddlebag with surprising speed.

“Good night, Amethyst,” she said.

Then she blew out one of the fire jars and left the tent.

Exhaustion swept over me, weighing down my bones. I slid under the blankets, all of the fabrics way warmer and softer than I’d expected. Wasn’t most wool scratchy? Sleep took me before I could puzzle over it. At some point, I halfway woke to the unfamiliar sensation of someone laying beside me. Pine and wisteria flowed over me, soothing me before I could actually panic. I was hazy enough I let myself appreciate the warm weight of his body beside mine if only to keep me from feeling entirely alone and adrift.

16

CALLUM

Commotion pulled me away from my morning prayers before I was truly ready to leave the quiet routine. I shrugged on my abandoned tunic, leaving the laces undone, and quickly rose to my feet. The candles extinguished with a quick flick of my hand, the tent plunging into that moderate darkness that comes just before the sunrise. I stepped into my riding boots as more voices joined the conversation happening just outside the tent.

Amethyst adjusted in the cot, rolling onto her side. Her hair spread across the dense fabric, revealing the still-healing bruise that stretched across her cheek and nearly blended with her translation tattoo. My breath caught. My scent exploded, filling the small tent until wisteria and pine were all I could scent. The need to obliterate the thing that had harmed her swept through me, faster than a fire given dried wood. Since there was no rational way to avenge her from a freak accident involving a ludian tree and acora I no longer had access to, I shoved the sensation down low enough it no longer ached in my bones.

Best to focus on whatever mayhem was brewing outside.

I swallowed and turned away from her, ducking out of the tent. I ensured the flap closed entirely before heading toward the tense conversation taking place around the makeshift fire ring that had been constructed the night before.

Arden stood with the rest of my personal guard, already dressed in the guard’s standard half-plate designed for riding. Monique sat on a canvas bag near the small fire, a cloak wrapped around her slight frame. Elise and Tabitha stood beside Hugh, who had his arms crossed, a dark expression clouding his features. Joseph stood on the other side of him, his own eyes flicking between his alpha and Mallory, the royal mage that had accompanied the offered omegas when they’d travelled to the encampment just before the Rite. With her stood a mage who hadn’t been traveling with us, Sutton. Vincent, Amaria, and Shelby were a few feet removed, huddled close together, still in their sleeping clothes, Shelby’s hair not even in the braid she typically wore. It was Phoebe who noticed me first, her gaze catching on me from where she stood with Simeon, already dressed for another day of travel, her circlet nestled against her forehead and her cloak covering her indigo tunic. Her lips tightened as she saw me, her gaze flashing with a warning most wouldn’t be able to interpret.

“What’s wrong?” I asked before I closed in on the group, letting the question announce my arrival.

Simeon’s eyes flashed to me, quickly taking in my state of undress. For once, he didn’t have a reaction to the lack of formality.

Whatever this was that was brewing was especially worrisome, then.

Sutton stepped toward me, a messaging stone in his palm. “I’ve been sent to retrieve Mallory.”

I gingerly took the gray stone, careful to keep from lifting it and accidentally activating the imbued message spell before I was ready. Instead, I pocketed it and focused on the mage. If Mallory was being called back by my father, something was certainly wrong. She’d been the primary mage entrusted with accompanying the participants of the Grand Rite for the last four cycles.

“Just Mallory?” I asked. “Not me as well?”

“Just her.” Sutton nodded, his shoulders tight with stress and his eyes full of fatigue. “I am not allowed to speak of why with anyone.”

He gestured to the messaging stone now in my pocket.

I was the only one to know why the mages were being recalled back to Embercrest by my father? My stomach twisted with unease. I paused for a moment, letting my magic settle in my chest. The earth didn’t reach for me, not like it had prior to the Rite, so nothing was imminent among us, at least.

“They are… dissatisfied with that explanation.”

“All right.” I kept my voice soft and clear, the calm in the storm that was clearly brewing. “If my father needs Mallory, then she is to go at once.”

The group bristled, but I ignored them. Instead, I focused on my own mages. Understanding swept through their gazes before I said a word, and Simeon nodded.

“You are too exhausted to aid in the jump,” he said, focusing on the new mage. “Phoebe and I will go as well to balance out the magic so that there are no injuries with the transportation.”