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“She just needs time.” Nyah’s voice broke, making her statement sound more like a wish than reality.

“I would feel violated as well if someone went creeping into my dreams without permission,” I offered with a glare. The truth was I still resented the fact that Torvo had played nice with Balram while I was being tortured in the dungeon. Just because I understood it didn’t mean I liked it. And I hadn’t forgotten the way he’d acted around Nyah during the Imrati. I didn’t entirely trust this man, and though I hated to agree with the princess, the fact he’d visited Nyah during Rune’s dreams felt wrong.

“That wasn’t what upset her,” Torvo bit out through gritted teeth.

“What was it?” Nyah asked, stepping bodily between us.

Again, Torvo softened when he looked at her. “I believe she is jealous of you. She thinks I want you more than I want her.”

He’d moved so close to her as he spoke that I could barely control my rage. I’d been through a lot, godsdamnit, and I didn’t like the idea of him so close to her. What if his feelings haven’t changed since the Imrati? Rune clearly thought that was the case. I was standing right here, for fuck’s sake. Nyah can handle him, I thought, forcing myself to calm. She doesn’t need me going berserk and acting the arsehole.

“That’s ridiculous,” Nyah said with a huff.

Torvo remained silent.

Pulling Nyah to my side, I angled myself between them. “Or is she picking up on the truth?” Best to get this out in the open. I’d been sure of it since we met. Torvo had a thing for Nyah, and he needed to know once and for all it wasn’t happening.

“Rivven—” Nyah warned, but I kept my eyes trained on Torvo.

“I did have feelings for you.” He spoke directly to Nyah as though I wasn’t even there. “But, and I told her this, when I got to know her, I realized it was Rune who stirred my heart.”

“Then you do care for her?” Nyah seemed relieved. I was as well. Assuming he spoke the truth.

“I do,” he agreed, and the shadow of some emotion passed over his face. Maybe he was hurting. Yet I couldn’t let go of the picture of him sneaking in to be alone with Nyah.

“I’ll talk to her,” Nyah said, pulling free of my hold. “After we decide what our next step is. That should give her some time to cool off, too.”

“Thank you, Nyah.” Torvo said.

“Anytime,” Nyah replied.

Torvo smiled and gripped her arms, and every instinct in me made me want to rip his limbs off. Gods, I had to get ahold of myself. I was still reeling from what I’d been through the last month, and I was so very tired. The trouble was that when I did sleep, the dreams were worse than the memories.

Twenty-Two

Nyah

Ihated that Torvo had interrupted the moment with Rivven and me. But I was relieved as well. I couldn’t use my sister’s body to be with him the way I wished. And being close, it was so hard to resist the pull. I craved him like I craved air on my own skin once again. It was pure torture not being able to touch him—to kiss him. And if I felt this way so strongly, how hard must it be for Rivven? He’d been tortured for a month in the dungeons of Centos. Most people did not survive that long.

I wrangled Rune’s thin white hair into several braids which I wound around her—our?— head like the crown we’d been wearing when I was first thrust out of her mind. I now understood her use of the makeshift prison to keep me safe in some strange protective way. I wanted to understand her. I’d thought I did, but now I knew there was so much more to Leuruna than I’d realized.

“How do you usually get to Astridon?” I asked Kendara as we packed up food and other supplies from the elves.

“We use firebirds,” she answered with a shrug as she laced up her tall black boots.

Today, instead of her usual skimpy furs, she’d dressed more like us in skintight leathers with simple fur trim. Her hair was slicked back and tied into a bun at the nape of her long neck, leaving the pointed tips of her ears on display. She had two jagged daggers strapped to her hips in clear sheaths, and I wondered how many hidden weapons she had as well.

“What are firebirds?” I asked, lighting up at the idea of seeing yet another creature I’d never known existed.

“They’re quite shy,” she said with a smirk.

Straightening, she threw a sack over her shoulder and marched out of the cavemouth toward the clearing we’d arrived in yesterday. So far, only Ash stood ready in the center, her dark coat shining, and golden horn reflecting the sunlight as she stretched her massive wings. Sinsha stood waiting along with Galan, Rivven, and Torvo, all similarly geared up for the next leg of our journey.

As I approached, a silver bird swooped out of the sky and glided toward Sinsha, who raised her arm to receive it. It cawed loudly and curled its wings in as it landed. A spiral of silver energy floated off the bird’s back and swirled around the crown of Sinsha’s head. Her eyes went blank for a moment, and I tensed, but Rivven and the others acted like it was all quite normal, so I tried to tamp down my urge to yank the thing from its perch, worried it might be harming her.

A few seconds later, the bird lunged into the sky again with a cry. Sinsha turned toward us with a smile. “That was a message from Hymer and the others. They’ll have a guide waiting when we arrive.”

Sinsha stalked through the snow and ice to her daughter, and they grasped forearms and tipped their heads together. “Farewell in battle, Daughter.”