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He kisses my scalp and jolts.

“Fuck,” he hisses, clamping a hand over his neck. “The potion wore off.”

I motion to climb out of his lap, but he clutches me tighter.

“Riven, if this is hurting you⁠—”

“Not touching you is so much worse.”

I pull back and look up at him.

His eyes flood with concern. “What did you need to ask my mother?”

“I needed to know about the symbolism behind the mystglove in her bouquet.”

“Gwyn,” he says foully. “You risked your life for your compendium?”

“No, no,” I say, cupping his cheek. He winces, and I drop my hand. “I risked my life for the truth, for further proof of Devlin’s corruption.”

“What truth?”

“Your mother didn’t pass to the Fading, Riven.”

“We all saw her suffering from the wasting illness,” Arkyn says, back with a glass of water and a heaping slice of fruit-of-the-forest pie.

I take both from him and drain the glass, setting the dessert aside.

“Lord Devlin poisoned your mother with mystglove.”

Riven’s gaze darkens. “You’re certain?”

“I am,” I say, picking at the pie. “She told me he used to brew her tea with it.”

“So Devlin manipulated, poisoned, and ultimately, murdered my mother,” he says, summing everything up. “I wonder if there’s physical evidence of this in his quarters. If there is, it’ll be more than enough to see Lord Devlin removed from the council and punished for his crimes.”

“Fuck.” Arkyn groans, sinking down beside us in a crouch. “I guess now’s probably not the best time to tell you this, but Devlin’s fled the Fae Isles.”

He pulls a letter from his pocket and hands it to Riven.

I recognize the handwriting immediately.

It’s from Quill.

Riven takes the letter and holds it out in front of me so I can read it too.

Riven,

Rory’s had a vision, and she’s been filled with an overwhelming sense of dread ever since. Because of this, she insisted I write you a letter warning that a fae male named Devlin will flee into the five kingdoms to meet a cloaked figure and retrieve a bottle from them. She has no clue who the cloaked figure is or what the bottle contains.

Neither of us fully understands the significance of this vision, but she believes it may mean something to you.

Yours,

Q

Riven scowls, crumples the letter in his fist, and tosses it aside.

“Are you sure he’s already gone?” he asks, rubbing his jaw.