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“I’m not asking you to feel less,” she continued. “I’m asking you to make sure we don’t miss something obvious because we were too angry to look.”

The rigid coil of his stance loosened. He nodded once.

Elara exhaled, dropped her hands, and tugged him back into the laboratory by the wrist. “Kalaetzu,” she said as she shut the door, “try the key. Let’s confirm it’s the right one.”

The older fae knelt at the shackle. His fingers shook as he fitted the key into the lock, speaking as he worked as though reciting lists might steady spiraling nerves. “I packed what I could,” he murmured. “One vial dulls pain without clouding the mind. Another makes the air feel like smoke in the lungs. And one more…” His mouth twitched faintly. “Another, if cornered, drink it. You’ll speak convincing nonsense for a quarter hour. Better foolish than—”

The lock turned with a clean click.

Kalaetzu froze, then shot upright and slipped his ankle free. “It worked,” he breathed. For an instant the years of captivity fell from him and he looked almost young.

Elara released a long breath. “Whatever you packed, we’ll use it.” She turned to Njall. “The sack you’ve got has loaves, hard cheese, and apples. Enough for a few weeks if we ration.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Now we need warm clothes and weapons.”

Njall blinked. The feral edge in him softened into sheepish recognition.

Elara groaned. “You were going to leave without weapons.”

He muttered something that sounded like agreement. Or a curse. “My chambers.”

The rest happened in a rush.

Njall ripped open a trunk and absently tossed Elara two compact blades. She caught them against her chest, knelt, and secured one along her thigh and another at the heel of her boot.

He watched her do it, then paused. “Do you know how to use those?”

“No,” she admitted calmly. “But I assume the pointy end goes in first.”

He gave her a look.

“It will be fine,” she said, waving an unconcerned hand. “Are the front gates truly our only option?”

Njall sighed and tossed Kalaetzu a few heavy winter cloaks. “Every other exit is warded against humans. You’d be unconscious or dead before you crossed the threshold.”

“Then we do what we did when you took me to the Niverna prison.”

Njall gave a clipped, uncertain grunt and turned to his gear. Two black blades crossed his back, one over each shoulder. Knives followed. Finally he slung the provisions sack over his shoulder.

Elara studied him. Nodded. “Now we’re ready.”

At this hour, the labyrinth of Selenar Castle held a poisoned stillness. Elara counted steps to calm her pulse. Thirty-two to the bend. Nine to the niche where a tapestry sagged. Six to the turn where incense mixed with the damp scent rising from the lower halls. She had mapped the castle by instinct and fear, every corner folded into her mind like a second spine.

When they reached the throne hall, the vast chamber stood silent as a mausoleum.

Njall’s hand shot up. Halt. “Something’s wrong,” he murmured as he eased them into the shadow of an alcove, body angled to shield them. “This room is never empty of guards.”

Elara’s stomach tightened.

“How do we proceed?” Kalaetzu whispered, shifting his satchel nervously.

Njall scanned the open expanse with frightening intensity. He slipped a hand into the food sack, drew out an apple, and tossed it into the center of the chamber.

Torchlight flared and the massive doors groaned open. A blast of air tore through the hall, scattering snow and ice into a storm of spirals where none had been before.

Through the thinning veil stepped the Norrelian King. A violet stone glowed just below his throat, stark against pale robes and the settling air. It rested in a shallow oval of silver split by a vertical score, catching the light along with his eyes in a way that sent chills through Elara.

Behind him stood several guards and a female with long white hair whose presence overpowered the space itself. She was lethal in her stillness, and impossibly beautiful. Elara had never been certain the fae goddesses existed. Now she questioned that doubt.

Njall saw her and inhaled sharply. Something unpleasant flickered through his features.