I cupped his cheek in my hand, running my thumb over the smooth bronze skin. “I wish this wasn’t so complicated.”

“I know.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “As much as I don’t want to be apart from you, I completely understand if you want to stay with Zadie.”

“Sami and Zadie need time alone together,” I said. “At least as much as they can get before we’re on the road again.”

“I’ll support whatever you decide.” He leaned forward and brushed his mouth, warm and tasting of ale, against mine. I hummed in pleasure and drew him closer.

“Maybe you should come to Fort Crag after all?” Talin teased, his lips as soft as feathers on my neck.

I bit my lip as his mouth moved to my shoulder, nuzzling my shift out of the way. “I don’t think,” I breathed as my hands slipped under his tunic and along the muscular planes of his back, “that they allow this in the barracks.”

He laughed, and I was relieved that we could still be silly with each other, even when everything was so bleak. “I should go,” he said finally.

I almost protested. I would have liked another night like the one in Varenia, where we had talked and cuddled under some semblance of normalcy. But until I knew if my vision of the future matched Talin’s, it didn’t feel like a good idea to ask him to stay.

“Good night,” I said, rising from the bed.

He followed suit and paused at the door, looking at me in a way I had never seen before. There was a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes, like he wanted to ask me something but was afraid of the answer.

Finally, he smiled. “Good night, Nor.”

When he was gone, I released a breath, and I realized that I had been afraid of the question.

* * *

Somehow, Roan was able to convince the other councilmembers to let us speak with the captured guard the following morning. Considering that Yana had made it clear she wouldn’t have minded if Ceren had killed me at the border, I was surprised they were giving us access to the prisoner. Until I saw him for myself.

I didn’t recognize the prisoner from my time in New Castle. More surprisingly, neither did Talin, Grig, or Osius. A man in his early twenties with olive skin and black hair, he was shackled at the wrists and ankles, but he didn’t look frightened or angry. I wondered if he was even making the conscious decision not to cooperate. He looked sleepy or drunk, not resolved.

“He’s been like this since we captured him,” a rider from Fort Crag explained. He kicked at the guard’s shackled legs. The man let out a grunt but otherwise didn’t react. “The only time he made any sign that he was even conscious was when we tried to take that.”

The Galethian pointed to a chain hanging around the man’s neck. Dangling from the end was a red jewel the color of fresh blood.

I took a step closer. “Where did he get that?”

“Why?” Roan asked. “Do you recognize it?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it looks like the stones I saw in the tunnels below New Castle—and the ones in Ceren’s crown.”

Talin placed a hand on my shoulder. “You think it’s a bloodstone?”

“The bloodstones are gone,” Yana said. “That’s what we’ve always been told.”

My mouth had gone dry, and I swallowed thickly. “They were believed gone, yes. But when I escaped, I saw a vein with my own eyes.”

Ebb had told me about the bloodstones once, how they were believed to be the frozen blood of giants. They were said to make the wearer so powerful, she could command armies to certain death if she chose. Lady Melina had said the stones were only visible to Varenian eyes, but Ceren had Varenian blood in his veins now. Mine.

A groan escaped me. If Ceren had bloodstones at his disposal, what did that mean for Talia and her army?

“Do you know how the stones work?” Roan asked me.

I shook my head. “No, only that they make the wearer stronger.”

Talin glanced at the guard, who clearly didn’t appear strong, and frowned. “We always believed the stones were similar to blood coral. The mines were below the royal crypt.”

“You think the stones come from the dead bodies of Ilarean royals?” Zadie asked.

“Just like the blood corals grows from the bodies of dead Varenians.” I tried to remember everything Ebb had told me about bloodstones, but it had been such a short conversation. “The stones don’t work the same way as the Varenian pearls, though. Do they?”

“You mean by healing people?” Talin asked. “No, I don’t believe so.”

“What happened when you tried to take the bloodstone?” Yana had combed her strip of hair up off her head, which made her look even fiercer than yesterday.

“He went berserk,” the man from Fort Crag replied. “Screaming and flailing like a yearling with a horsefly on his—”

“Thank you,” Yana said curtly. “You can return to your post.” It seemed to me Roan should give that order, considering the rider was one of his, but Yana went on. “Well, should we vote? Interrogate the prisoner or take the stone by force?”

“I get the impression an interrogation won’t yield much in the way of answers,” Roan said. “Not unless we plan to use torture. We should send for Adriel. She might have a better idea.”

I glanced questioningly at Roan, but he didn’t respond.

Yana murmured something to a young Galethian woman and she dashed off, seemingly to send for this Adriel person.

“We’ll consult with the council,” Yana said. “The outsiders can wait in the antechamber.” She walked away without another word.

I stared after her, wondering where she got the nerve to speak to people that way.

“You don’t like her, do you?” Roan asked as he escorted us to a waiting room. I noticed that his rider hadn’t left, but he was staying as far from Yana as possible. “Why not?”

“She’s abrasive,” I blurted. “And rude.”

“She’s forceful. It’s an important quality in a leader.”

Talin and his men were conversing across the room, while Zadie and Sami were whispering into each other’s ears. Judging from the blush creeping up Sami’s neck, they weren’t talking about the bloodstones. “I thought you were all equal,” I said, genuinely confused. “But she seems to be in charge.”

“We are all equal when it comes to voting, but Yana is the best rider in Galeth. That garners a certain amount of respect around here.”