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Julen shook his head. “Look, Father, I know you won’t believe me but… there might be another way.”

His father’s expression shifted, confusion, then frustration. “What way?”

Julen glanced at Maia, then back at him.

“We think we might be able to stop it.”

For a moment, his father simply stared. Then he laughed, sharply and disbelieving.

“You two think you’re going to stop the Fracture opening? To overthrow Orell and the Umbralyn? Gods help us.”

Julen didn’t smile. “No,” he said. “But we might know someone who can.”

Julen’s father folded his arms, brow furrowed. He then turned his attention to Maia.

“The Umbralyn you were involved with.” He looked Maia up and down, judging. She blushed but didn’t break eye contact.

Julen cut in. “We’ve heard they’re keeping him by the Fracture, because he’s the only one who can stop it. It might be too late, but it’s the only shot we’ve got.”

“You’re going towards it,” his father said. “The Fracture.”

It wasn’t a question.

Maia looked him square in the eye. “Yes.”

“You’ll die,” he said.

“Maybe,” Maia replied. “But staying guarantees it.”

Julen’s father exhaled slowly, some of the fight leaving him. He reached up, gripping Julen’s shoulder again, this time less urgently.

“You were always like this,” he said. “Stubborn. Certain.”

Julen huffed a weak breath. “I learned from you.”

His father almost smiled. Almost. Then he pulled him into a brief, tight embrace.

“Go, then,” he said. “If you’re going to do something reckless, at least do it quickly. I’ll be waiting for you in Meridon. Make sure you get there before it’s too late. Ok? You promise?”

Three days to Meridon. Three days until the Fracture opened. Maia watched Julen do the arithmetic in the time it took for his father to finish the sentence, and saw the moment he understood that there was no version of it in which the man in front of him arrived anywhere in time.

“I promise,” he said. His voice caught slightly. “Stay safe, Father.”

They separated. It was a promise neither of them could keep, but they made it anyway. His father stepped back, already turning toward the outer gate, toward the others gathering to leave. Julen watched him go for a moment, then turned back to Maia.

“Well,” he said, quieter now. “I suppose that’s that.”

Maia nodded once, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “It isn’t goodbye,” she said. “We will stop this. It’s the only way.”

Her gaze shifted back to the courtyard, to the horse still standing unclaimed. She stepped forward. The noise of the courtyard pressed in around her again, but it no longer felt overwhelming, just distant.

Maia reached for the horse’s reins, steadying it as it tossed its head, unsettled by the chaos around them.

“There’s only one, but it’ll be faster than walking even with both of us.” She glanced at him. “After what Orell said, I don’t think we should be going up there alone. If you still want to come.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“Neither are our odds,” she said. “Are you coming then?”