“So, what you’re saying is, we have nothing to go on,” Ahlvie said.

“Um…not exactly,” Cyrene said.

Ahlvie gave her a look that said he knew her too well. He seemed to see right through her. It had always been that way with Ahlvie.

“We know we’re looking for two women named Matilde and Vera. They had to have consorted with the likes of Basille Selby, a swindling Eleysian merchant traveler. So, that probably steers us to the underbelly of the capital city, if I had to guess. Otherwise, we don’t know what they look like, their age, their trade, or anything about where they could be whatsoever.”

“Okay. When you put it that way, there’s not much to go on.”

“Then, we’ll need to split up,” Avoca said practically.

“And do what?” Ceis’f asked. “This isn’t a six team on a mission, Ava. At the present, this is a melting pot of outcasts. An exhausting, pompous little girl who thinks she’s a leader, an Affiliate mute, a drunken fool, a disgraced former Prince, and two Leifs.”

“I feel like you fit into at least two of those categories,” Avoca said flatly.

“Enough!” Cyrene said. “If we’re going to do this, everyone needs to learn to work together. If you two are always at each other’s throats, I’m going to go crazy. Are we all here together?”

Cyrene expected Ceis’f to make some smart response to her outburst, but he just sat up straighter. No one else said a word.

“Aye, aye, boss,” Orden said, tipping his wide-brimmed hat.

She wasn’t sure that he knew how much that meant to her. It didn’t matter the troubles they had gone through to get here right now because, in less than a day, she would have her feet on Eleysian soil.

“Okay, good. Well, Prince Dean asked me if I would accompany him to the palace as a royal guest, and I’ve decided to accept,” she said formally.

All the while, her insides were squirming. She couldn’t believe she was allowing herself to get lost with another royal. So far, they had only proven to be trouble. But that smile…

Ugh! She couldn’t think about that right now.

“So, I’m going to go with him to the palace. I think it will be a good idea to have an insider to search the palace grounds.”

Ahlvie snorted, and Maelia hid a smile. Cyrene just glared at both of them. Through the bond, she could sense Avoca had her own concerns about it, but her face was a mask.

“Do you have something to add?”

Avoca frowned. “You can’t go to the palace alone.”

“I planned to bring Maelia.”

Maelia nodded in agreement.

Avoca opened her mouth to protest, but Cyrene cut her off, “It will look more normal if two Affiliates are coming into the palace as a delegation with the Prince than with a whole group. I don’t want to draw attention to us.”

“But the three of us won’t be suspicious,” Avoca argued.

“You’re suspicious, Avoca.” Cyrene hated admitting it, but it was true.

If someone looked too closely at her, they might realize that there was something different about her. She knew most people didn’t believe in Leifs, but Dean had said magic was more commonplace. It could be dangerous to bring her into the palace.

“Avoca can go with me,” Ahlvie said quickly.

Ceis’f laughed. “Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Enough!” Cyrene cried. “Enough.”

“I’m just saying, if Avoca is suspicious, they’ll be doubly suspicious together,” Ahlvie argued.

“If she isn’t with me, then I’ll abandon the mission to be with her,” Ceis’f said.

That struck the nail in the coffin.

Cyrene sighed heavily. “Avoca and Ceis’f. Ahlvie and Orden. Maelia, you’re with me. End of discussion. We’ll split up the city sectors. Anyone familiar with the city layout?” she asked.

Orden sighed. “I’ve been there. It’s all laid out around the harbors. There are five main harbors and seven sectors divided by the river systems on the island—eight, if you include the palace at the center. But it’s a big island. This could take a while.”

Cyrene nodded. She was prepared for that. They would do what they could. “Draw up what you remember, and we’ll separate the sectors for each group.”

“Are we just going to not talk about it?” Maelia asked quietly as Orden worked on the map.

Everyone stilled and looked at Maelia. Right away, Cyrene knew what she meant but was afraid to acknowledge it.

“Talk about what?”

Maelia looked up into Cyrene’s eyes. “What happened back there? Everything that happened since we were imprisoned. I mean…Avoca healed Ahlvie. He had huge gashes across his chest, and a minute later, they were gone. Nothing but a fine line.”

“Gashes?” Cyrene asked, her eyes searching out Ahlvie.

He shrugged, and his eyes flashed that yellow color again. “A story for another time. It’s not a particularly bawdy one.”

“That’s the part you’re interested in?” Maelia asked, nearly hysterical. “She healed him. I study medicine, but this was something else. Just like with Prince Dean. He took a sword to the shoulder, and now, he’s fine. Then…the buildings and the earthquake.” Maelia shuddered. “Why have we not talked about this?”

Cyrene looked around the room and then sighed. “We have. Kind of. Back in Albion, before we left, I told you that I had abilities, and that’s why we were going to Eleysia.” She shrugged. “At the time, using the word scared me. Magic. I have magic. So does Avoca and Ceis’f. That’s how they were able to heal Ahlvie and Dean. That was how I was able to level those buildings. I’m here in Eleysia, trying to find people to help me control it.”

“Matilde and Vera,” Orden said knowingly.

“Yes.”

“If we’re really at full disclosure,” Avoca said, “Ceis’f and I are actually Leifs.”

Maelia’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor at that announcement.

“And I’m…I’m Doma,” Cyrene said with her chin tilted up. “The first Doma in two thousand years.”

“A…Doma?” Maelia asked in surprise. “Like the ancient rulers who subjugated our people?”

“The stories are a lie. Doma had magic, and the Dremylons killed them for it,” Cyrene said.

“Wiped out the entire race of Doma,” Avoca continued. “Made it so that magic was just a myth in as much of the world as they could touch. We thought all Doma were extinct until Cyrene showed up in our woods.”

“And you’re actually Leifs?” Ahlvie asked. “Like the creatures who steal children in the night?”

“Myth,” Avoca said with a grin. “We used that as our own protection.”

Maelia shook her head. “This is a lot to take in.”

Cyrene nodded. “I know. I’m sorry to lay this at all of your feet. I’ve been dealing with it for a while, and I just wasn’t ready to share the information. I was too afraid of what I was, and I couldn’t accept the fact that this was reality. But…now, I know it to be true, and there’s no going back. I am Doma, and I need to learn to control my powers so that what you saw in Aurum doesn’t happen again.”

Cyrene stood and stretched her legs while Maelia mulled over everything that had just been revealed. She knew Maelia would need time to process the truth. Cyrene certainly had. Orden was the only other person who didn’t know, but he acted as if he’d always known. It made her wonder about him more and more.

“I’m just…going to get some air,” Cyrene said. She nodded her head at the lot of them and then left to give them all space.

Avoca followed Cyrene above deck. Cyrene could sense her even though she couldn’t hear her silent footsteps.

Magic flooded her fingertips as her emotions ran rampant, and she had to forcibly put a hold on it. There was so much there. It terrified her.

What if I destroy everything in my path all over again? What if my emotions keep running away with me, and destruction falls on my friends rather than just my foes? What if I could never control it?

“I am glad you finally got it all out in the open,” Avoca said.

“It was time.”

“They’ll still fight for you. They love you.”

Cyrene nodded and clenched her hands. “Your mother was afraid of letting me leave for the very reason that happened back on the docks. I lost control,” she whispered. “I…killed people.”

“You don’t know that,” Avoca said.

Cyrene looked down and then up into her impossibly blue eyes. “Yes, I do. At the time, I wanted to believe that the silence after the blast was normal. I told myself, other heartbeats were out there, but once Dean pulled me out of it, the only heartbeat roaring in my ears was my own…and Dean’s. I couldn’t feel anything or anyone out there.”

“You’re new to your powers. You could have tapped out at that point.”

“I would have blacked out,” Cyrene insisted.

Avoca shook her head and looked out at the flat ocean before them. It was in that serene place between lands where nothing existed but the sweet salty air and the endless blue depths below.

“My first kill was a human,” Avoca whispered.

“What?” Cyrene asked, stunned.

“It was an accident. I thought I was better than my six team leader, and I wandered off in the wrong direction. Suddenly, I was trapped. I had triggered a bear trapper’s metal mechanism. It closed around my ankle, digging through the skin and touching the bone. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt in my life, and I had gone through extensive six team training.” Avoca didn’t meet Cyrene’s eyes, and she could tell Avoca was recalling that day. “The man came back for me, thinking I was his next meal ticket. When he saw me, he seemed surprised to see a human in his trap. He quickly went to work, removing the claw attached to my ankle, but I was scared. I was in so much pain. My emotions were high. Everything hurt and was blurry. I didn’t know what to do.”

Cyrene swallowed. “What happened?”

“My magic went wild. All my training fled my mind, and I was just out of control. Even though he had saved my life and freed me, my magic wasn’t honed enough to stop me from making a horrible mistake. That’s all it was. One horrible mistake. And then his life winked out of him.

“I spent a good many years paying penance for that deed. I tried to quit the military and my magic, but my mother wouldn’t let me. You know what she said to me?”

“What?”

“‘This is a lesson, not a punishment. You do this man’s death a disservice by not learning how to use your magic properly.’”

Cyrene cringed.

“It hurt at the time, but she was right. I’ve never lost control like that again, and I use my magic sparingly. Only when I’m at the extremes of my own physical prowess.”

They stood in silence for a few moments before Cyrene placed her hand on Avoca’s arm. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Avoca smiled. “I’m going to make sure everyone is all right below.”

Cyrene nodded, and Avoca disappeared below deck. She knew that Avoca was right. She couldn’t blame herself for everything that had happened. She would carry it with her. Those nameless lives that she might have harmed in her quest. But she would use that as a reminder of how much worse it could be if she didn’t find Matilde and Vera.

“Anything I can help you with?” Dean asked, sidling up next to her.

Cyrene jumped. She hadn’t even heard his approach. He might have even more silent feet than Avoca. Or maybe he was just more familiar with the boat.

“Help me with?” she inquired.

“You were planning something in the captain’s quarters. Care to share?” Despite the serious question, he had a smile on his face.

“We were just discussing the plans for when we get to Eleysia.”

“What would you like to do when you get there?”

Cyrene considered the question. “I’ve heard about these two women who work with people with magic. Matilde and Vera,” she said hopefully.

Dean frowned. “I see. I’ve never heard of them before, but like I said, while we believe in magic being in everything, there aren’t actually people with magic in Eleysia.”

Cyrene deflated. “I see.”

“But, if I can help, I will.”

This didn’t change anything. Just because he didn’t know people with magic didn’t mean Matilde and Vera weren’t there. Basille Selby had told her to go there…so these women must exist.

“By the way, have you given more consideration to my offer?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you’ve considered? Or yes…you’ll go?”

“I’ll go.”

Dean smiled that dazzling smile. All of a sudden, she was swept up into his arms, and he twirled her in a circle. She broke off into laughter and threw her arms around his neck to hold on, heedless of his shoulder. He gently placed her back on her feet. Her cheeks were flushed, and they were awfully close together. She cleared her throat and took a step back for propriety’s sake.

“Sorry,” he apologized immediately. “I was just so…I’m glad.”

“Me, too,” she told him. And not just because the palace would give her easy access to more resources, but because it would give her more access to him.