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I ripped my gaze away from Sasha’s bruises, forcing out a breath of calm. She was right. Other than a few bumps and cuts, we were fine.

Couldn’t say the same for the Good Council. We’d just dented their numbers significantly. And we weren’t even done.

Together, Sasha and Sylvie summoned all the forbidden relics that the Good Council had seized and locked away. The objects came soaring back into the square, where the villagers were still gawking at my point of disappearance.

They looked up. Gasps punctured the silence as coins and cups and cutlery engraved with ancient symbols formed two words in midair.

I saw the moment it rippled across the people of Gildenleaf: hope. The realization that maybe the relics weren’t fake, that maybe the two outsiders who had sowed stories about the Uninhabitable Zone weren’t crazy. That maybe there truly was a better leader, a better future, a better island in store for everyone.

Voices rose in volume. Villagers pointed at the message in the sky. Others crept out from houses and shops. Doors and windows flew open.

“One village down,” Sylvie said with a faint smile.

“Twelve to go,” Sasha said with a smirk.

I huffed out a laugh, surprised that my plan had actually worked.

Because right before our eyes, that hope began to spread.

CHAPTER

37

RAYNA

“Did you hear?”

“All the elites in Gildenleaf are dead.”

“They’re saying an actual faerie killed them.”

“But faeries are extinct!”

“Maybe not. I heard the king that came before the Good Council is alive.”

My lips pressed over a smile as my friends and I wove through the Cardina market, listening to all the vendors whisper the news to each other.

Except, they weren’t actually whispering anymore. Their conversations had grown so loud that even over the clamor of other chatter and haggling, several Esholian students were glancing at each other with clear “did you hear that?” expressions, and I was willing to bet that every house on campus would be filled with gossip later tonight. Gossip that got us exactly where we wanted.

“Damn, your boyfriend really knows what he’s doing,” Wren said as we all passed a rack of spices boasting the best cardamom on the island.

I passed her a quick shake of my head. Although there was much juicier news, Coen and I were still a secret that could not leak.

Wren threw up her hands with a conspiratorial smirk. “What? I meant in bed.”

With Felicity clinging to my back, I pressed my hands over the monkey’s ears. Willa uttered a squeaky scoff from my shoulder, Emelle giggled, and Lander shook his head in exasperation.

Gileon, however, said, “I wish I knew what I was doing in bed.”

We all paused, slightly horrified at the conversation we’d just stumbled into.

Until Gileon added, “Rodhi says I’ve been sleepwalking, but I don’t know I’m doing it. Because, you know, I’m asleep. But I wish I knew what I was doing—where I was going.” He scratched his blonde head.

If Rodhi were here right now, I’d be really curious to ask him where Gileon was sleepwalking off to; I’d heard that such a thing could be a result of stress, which aligned with Wren’s worry for Gil.

But Rodhi was currently absent, probably trying to accomplish the task Coen had given him while everyone else was distracted with all the tents and booths crammed together in the courtyard before the Testing Center. The one day of the year we could buy new things at the Esholian Institute.

“Don’t take it to heart.” Wren patted Gileon’s shoulder. “I’ve heard Rodhi snore so loudly that I thought an Element Wielder was shaking the ground.”