“I’m a hedge witch,” she said. “I work with plants. Healing, medicine, that sort of thing. Women come to me when they have cramps from their monthlies, or if their children have the croup. I create salves for chafed skin and teas for sore throats.”

“We have a healer in Varenia.” I wondered where Elder Nemea was and if Ceren had even spared the elders. I picked up a chunk of blue crystal that reminded me of Talin’s eyes and twisted it in my fingers. The storm was picking up; raindrops plinked against the windows, and the door rattled on its hinges.

“I’ve heard about your pearls. I’ve never had the opportunity to study them.”

Her words made me think of Ceren. “Maybe some things are better left a mystery. Like the bloodstones.” I looked up at her then, our eyes meeting across the room.

“What did I say about blood magic that upset you so much back in the council meeting?” Adriel missed nothing, I realized.

I shrugged. “I suppose it was the way you said that it’s messy.”

“And that troubles you?”

Of course it did. But I didn’t know this woman, and I wasn’t comfortable telling her about my abilities, not when she was clearly so curious about the blood coral and Varenian pearls.

When I looked up, Adriel had turned to remove a leather-bound book from a shelf. She blew on the cover, sending a cloud of dust into the air. “Perhaps you’ll find something in this book that I missed. If it were up to me, we’d forget about the bloodstone.”

“And the guard?”

She waved dismissively. “He can stay in the dungeon until he decides to talk.”

“You saw him,” I said, taking the book from her. “I don’t think it’s his decision to make.”

“Perhaps not. Either way, I don’t want to get involved.” She pulled a bouquet of dried flowers off the wall, took them to the long table and began to crush them with her fist. Not a decoration, then.

“Some of us don’t have a choice,” I mumbled, turning the book over in my hands. There were no words on the red leather cover, only an engraving of a tree with long, skeletal branches.

A knock sounded on the door, causing me to nearly drop the book.

“That will be Roan,” Adriel said, setting aside her herbs. “Come in,” she called.

“How are you getting on?” Roan asked as he entered the cottage. Behind him, Talin, Osius, and Grig stood in the rain, their cloaks soaked through. “We came to deliver your belongings on our way to Fort Crag, Nor. Your bed will come after the storm passes.”

“Go on inside and warm up,” Adriel said to Roan. “But take your cloaks and boots off first.”

I hadn’t realized I’d get another chance to see Talin, and I eagerly followed them into the cottage. There wasn’t enough room for all of us there either, but fortunately Osius and Grig decided to wait in the barn.

Roan looked back over his shoulder at the sky. “We should keep going. I’m hoping we can outride the worst of the weather.”

“I’d like a few minutes alone with Talin,” I said, taking him by the hand and leading him back to the little workshop before Roan could argue.

“How are you?” I pushed his dripping hair out of his eyes. “This all feels so strange and sudden.”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“And third and fourth and—”

He leaned down and kissed me, his lips much colder than they’d been last night. I wanted to remove his rain-soaked clothing and warm him myself, but I knew we didn’t have much time.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” he said.

“I know, but I won’t be any use at Fort Crag. I think I might be able to learn how Ceren is using the bloodstones here.” I glanced at the book, which I’d set on the long wooden table. It was thicker than any book I’d ever read. But if it could explain the bond I seemed to have with Ceren, and if there was any way I could use it to understand his plans, I had to try.

Talin tucked my hair behind my ears. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

Back in New Castle, I had been scared and worried a hundred times, but I had been sure of my decisions. Saving Ceren at the lake had been the right thing to do, just like escaping by any means necessary had been.

But since my return to Varenia, I wasn’t sure about anything. Had leaving my parents in Varenia been the right thing to do? Had I been foolish to let Talin come to Galeth with us, when it seemed highly unlikely he’d get the troops he needed? Should I try to save my parents right away, rather than potentially waste more time?

I couldn’t answer any of those questions. Instead, I pulled Talin’s mouth back to mine, kissing him.

“Time to go, lovebirds.”

We broke apart at the sound of Roan’s voice. He was watching us from the doorway without a hint of shame. “Terribly sorry to interrupt, but we really do need to get going.”

I glared at him. “Has anyone ever told you you’re the worst?”

Roan shrugged and turned to leave, but not before I caught an amused glint in his eye.

When he was gone, Talin dropped one last kiss onto my lips, whispered goodbye, and followed Roan into the rain. I watched him go, a pit forming in my stomach at the realization that as uncertain as the future was, it was guaranteed to be full of more painful farewells.

And for the first time since leaving Varenia, I sat down on the floor and cried.

* * *

My tears subsided along with the rain, and I could no longer ignore the pangs of hunger in my empty stomach. I knocked sheepishly on Adriel’s door, opening it a crack when there was no answer.

She was stirring a pot of something that smelled spicy and delicious, and when she turned toward me, her smile was warm and open. “I thought you’d get hungry eventually.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, removing my boots and setting them by the fire to dry properly. “I think I’m just tired.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You’re allowed to be sad, or tired, or even just annoyed with Roan.”

I snorted and rubbed at my cheeks, which were tight from my dried tears. “It’s not just that. Ceren attacked Varenia when we escaped. I have no idea what happened to my family, and it feels as if time is slipping through my fingers like water.”

“Here.” She placed two bowls of soup on the table and gestured for me to sit. “This will help.”

“Why?” I eyed the spoonful in my hand skeptically. “Did you put something in it?”