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Instead, I said, “This is gorgeous.”

“His mother would be happy to know her fountain is loved still,” Amaria murmured. She sat on a bench facing the fountain, smoothing out her own tunic. “Not many build statues in honor of Siriena here. She is more commonly worshipped alongside her siblings across the Surmeda Ocean, especially in Adrya and Briosia.”

My head swam with all the names, especially with the lingering ache of Phoebe’s magic.

“Those are part of what you call the Far Lands?”

Amaria nodded. “A broad name for nine nations. There’s a story that before the Great Exodus, the Surmeda Ocean wasn’t so large or unpredictable, and the Far Lands were a third continent here, within a day or two’s travel the way Ferias is across the Passage.”

That ache in my head got more pronounced.

“I think I’m going to need a reference sheet,” I admitted dryly. Amaria laughed again even as she offered a quiet apology that I waved away. “Who is Siriena?”

“She’s the Goddess of the Sea and Mother of Change.” She set the saddlebag at her feet. “My mother’s people worship her sister, Sora, but not Siriena or Xander. Not as much, at least.”

More names I was probably going to lose track of at least a few times. How did they decide which to worship and which to ignore? Did the gods not… care?

I didn’t really have the bandwidth to sit through an entire religious history discussion, though, so I filed the questions away to look into later. Something must have been on my face anyway because she shrugged.

“We all have our traditions. We know the entire pantheon exists, of course, but that does not mean we seek them out equally. A lot of it is based in the actions of our parents and their parents and so forth, all the way back to even the Great Exodus. My mother’s people are born with wings and a love for the sky, so I’ve grown up seeking Sora’s wisdom as much as those more traditional to Marish.”

Wings.

“Like Tabitha?”

She shook her head. “Tabitha is Odaileon. Their wings are feathered and dark as the night they love to soar through. Most live beside the smaller of the twin rivers, near the capital. My mother is Eldarhím. Their wings are smooth and more membranous. They live farther north, along the larger of the twin rivers.”

Definitely was going to need a reference sheet. Maybe an entire book with at least one map, though two or three would be great. I adjusted until I sat with my back against the fountain, my head tilted back, and let my eyes close. Amaria didn’t say anything else, and time slipped away from me.

“Do you need serum?”

Reuben’s voice was warm and soft and much closer than expected given I hadn’t heard anyone approach. The flinch was habit, but he apologized anyway. When I opened my eyes, he sat beside Amaria, still in the dark brown tunic and pants he’d worn this morning. His hair was pulled back, though, the small silver trinkets woven through the strands. A few silver rings were in his ears, too, following the outside shell up to the point.

The sun was notably lower in the sky, the light casting new shadows on the garden and benches around me. I hoped Amaria hadn’t sat out here the entire time, bored to tears at watching me be mostly unconscious.

“I’m fine,” I said.

The ache of the headache was mostly gone the way Phoebe had promised. It was more just… everything else. The reality Sloane was married, that I wasn’t going to see Phoenix again, and the mess of emotions I’d shoved into boxes over the last two weeks that were trying to get free and wreak havoc.

“Reuben, do you have any room in your pack for…” Shelby’s voice trailed off.

I turned, finding her stopped on one of the curved paths leading from the other side of the villa. She’d changed from the pants and tunic, and the green dress hugged her curves in a way nothing else had while we were traveling. Her hair was braided again, and her ears had the same silver earrings Reuben did, though I hadn’t noticed any piercings before. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, like she’d just seen a ghost. Her gaze flashed to Amaria, and then she swallowed.

“Sorry, I just realized I forgot to come check with you when you got back,” she said. “And now we’re only an hour or so before the feast starts.”

She was lying, but I doubted Reuben realized that.

“You’re sure you’re well?” Reuben asked me. When I nodded again, he stood with a small smile. “I will go rest, then, before the feast begins. The rest of the group’s journey starts again tomorrow, and I will be joining them. I’m excited to hold my wife again.”

“Thank you,” I said, “for helping me so much.”

He waved away the gratitude with a warm smile as he stood and left the garden the same direction Shelby had come from. The moment he was out of sight, Shelby dropped into a crouch in front of me.

“What happened?” she asked in a breathless whisper.

“Maybe not here,” Amaria said before I could figure out how to lay out the explanation. She held out a hand. “Why don’t we help you get settled and into something more appropriate for the celebration?”

They led me to one of two spiral staircases situated in the corners of the villa and then across the upper floor. The ceiling of the covered balcony was a rib vault, too, though slightly softer in its angles. The doors lining the balcony were a dark wood, nearly black in the shadow of the ceiling. Shelby opened a door on her right and gestured for me to enter before her.