“Do we just go in?” Calix sidles up to me on his horse, who seems plenty eager to be here.
“I guess. It’s a trading post, after all.” I jump down from Nettle, and he happily plods to the small clearing next to the house to graze on the grass.
Leaving Kyra and Crimson outside, I cross the threshold and into an open room. Every surface I see is filled with trinkets and items for sale. A large wooden table takes up most of the space, the wood smothered with everything from teacups and horseshoes to books and blankets.
“Can I help—” Lyle walks in from the adjacent room and stops in her tracks as she registers me, then Calix. Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second before she looks past us in vain. “Ever?” Her strangled name claws from her throat, poisoning the air with her anguish.
“We don’t know. We came here for answers.” I watch as tears gleam in her eyes, but they are replaced in a blink, sheer steel cooling the blue in them. She shifts, as if preparing for a battle. Internal or physically, I’m not sure.
“Where is she?” Even with my muffled power, it’s hard not to be hit with the rush of emotion rising over everything else. Cold and ice chill the room around us, all emanating from Lyle.
The memory of Ever in the snow in that vision jolts to my mind, overtaking Lyle’s own fear.
The ice on the ground, the dark blood seeping in and tainting it…
Kyra’s voice draws me away from my personal nightmare. “Does Ever have a brother?”
Lyle looks at her, and I see Crimson’s also joined, all of us crowding into the room.
“No.” Confusion pulls at Lyle’s features as she scrutinises each of us. She crosses her arms and stands her ground. “It’s just me and Ever. Since she was a baby.”
“But you’re not her biological mother?” Kyra pushes, stepping toward her, as if the truth is hiding behind Lyle.
“No. But I’m her mother in every other sense.” She raises her voice and takes a breath, clearly rattled by our interrogation. “Every way that matters. Now, will you tell me why you’re all here?”
“We ask again. Does Ever have a brother?” Crimson’s voice matches Lyle’s, holding no warmth, and reeks of aggression and disbelief.
“No.”
“Yes.” The deep voice has us all turning towards the door. A tall man, similar in age to my father, blocks the exit. Calix is first to move, putting himself between the unknown visitor and the rest of us. “Yes. She does.”
“Kalan?” Lyle’s voice is only a whisper, and she covers her mouth with her hands as the truth rings out in the room.
If there was any doubt that she knew Ever’s secrets before, there is none now.
At least this secret.
“You need to explain yourself, Kalan. Now!” Lyle levels Kalan with a glare that reminds me of Ever’s.
“I will.”
“Hang on. How did you know to come here, now?” I ask the man buffering my position to him and Lyle.
He takes a breath and shakes his head. His hair is streaked with grey, his beard, too, but he’s still broad and has a sword hanging from his belt. “Three trainees, one of whom is banished, leave Kirrasia after, if rumours are true, talk of a Fifth? It was only a matter of time. Besides, you didn’t exactly hide your questions in Orasia.”
“You know Ever?” I ask, ignoring the rest of what he’s pieced together.
“In a way. But if you’re here asking about her brother, then I’m afraid that is not a good sign.”
“Enough. Is Ever safe?” Lyle’s voice thunders above all of us.
“She’s with her brother. He took her. After he killedmybrother.” Kyra steps around me and Calix towards Lyle.
“Kalan, what’s going on?” Lyle’s voice quivers.
“Lyle, perhaps we should?—”
“No. You tell us all.” Kyra stands her ground.
