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She stared. "No."

"Yes."

The silence stretched.

"Does the name Dali Vaelor mean anything to you?" I asked quietly.

Every trace of expression left her face. "Yes."

"She is here."

Nox said nothing.

"She is here,” I repeated.

Nox looked past me into the dark. "The Slykars." Her voice had dropped. "That explains why they have appeared in such numbers."

"Why?"

She laughed once. No humor in it. "Darkness breeds darkness." She looked back at me. "I would know, Golden Princess."

"You can hate me. And I may think that you’re⁠—”

“A terrible mother,” Nox finishes. “Because you, golden princess, are so perfect, correct? Yet rumor has it your children were almost eaten by undead the moment they left the womb.”

I shrugged, so unbothered that I surprised even myself. “I do not know what kind of mother you are. I just know that my blood senses hers."

Nox studied me. "You are different now.”

"My blood knows blood." I paused. "She is my blood. Morrath has been calling to me. Maybe because of my mother’s legacy, or maybe because my niece has been trapped here. I do not know.”

I drew in a breath. “What I do know is that I was not going to let anything happen to her. I did not know whether you would let her leave. Dali is after something that could cause her⁠—”

“The amulet, yes,” Nox interrupted. She took a step toward me. “What if I did not want my daughter to leave Morrath, despite the alleged danger?”

"Then I would have fought you." A pause. "Perhaps killed you."

She wiped blood from beneath her nose.

"It may simply be my nature now,” I continued. “Killing, that is.”

Nox nodded once. "Dali may want the amulet," she said. "But she wants me dead first. If she ever learns I have a child, Aviaryn becomes another way to seek vengeance.” She looked directly at me.

Now I understood. The reason why Aviaryn had remained trapped in Morrath had nothing to do with Nox’s selfishness.

“You banked enough infant feeder blood for her escape and kept her hidden here, away from Dali.”

Nox said nothing. Only watched me.

“She drank all the feeder stores you had. That is how she was able to leave here.”

Nox breathed a sigh of relief.

"I do not know how to be what humans call a good mother," she said. "I have never wanted to. But I protect what belongs to me. From everyone. Even those who claim to love them."

"Why are you with Sevrin?" I asked abruptly.

"We want the same thing. And I understand him."