“Was anyone left behind?” Zadie asked.

“A few people hid, I think. Some of the elders, and maybe a few of the youngest children. But almost everyone was taken, as far as I know.”

I wasn’t sure which fate was worse, to be a prisoner in New Castle, or to be left behind without food or water. “What happened when you were on the ship?”

“They chained the men and the strongest women. The rest of us stayed with our families. A man put those bloodstones on anyone who resisted, and it was like it turned them into sleepwalkers. Those with the jewels did everything they were told then, and the rest of us just went along with them. We were scared we’d be killed otherwise.”

“The man who put the bloodstones on the others. Was it Prince Ceren?” I asked.

Blaise shuddered. “He had long white hair and the palest skin I’ve ever seen.”

“That was him. Did he talk to anyone?”

“Not that I saw. He kept mostly to himself, I think. He didn’t tell us anything until we got to Old Castle. Once we arrived, most of us were weak and dehydrated, but he divided us into those who could dive and those who couldn’t. The others were taken away within a few hours. We’ve had no word of them since.”

“Your family?” I asked.

“They were all taken. Do you know if they’re all right?”

I sighed. “I wish we did. I’m afraid we have very little information about the rest of the Varenians. Our parents are there as well.”

“You’re going to save them, right?”

Zadie and I exchanged a glance. “We’re going to try.”

Blaise was quiet for a while, then turned to Zadie. “My mother said Nor scarred you so she could go to Varenia in your place. She said we shouldn’t trust Nor, that she’s wicked. But I saw you two throughout the choosing ceremony. You clearly love each other so much.” She looked at me again. “Why would you ever want to hurt your sister?”

Zadie placed a gentle hand over Blaise’s. “I made Nor help me so that I wouldn’t have to leave Varenia. It was the most selfish thing I’ve ever done.”

I shook my head. “Zadie—”

“I’ve waited a long time to have someone finally want to hear the truth,” she said to me before turning back to Blaise. “I told myself I was doing it to help my sister, too, because she wanted to go to Ilara. And maybe if I’d managed to do it myself, I could have made that true. But I was weak, and I made her help me against her will.” Zadie dropped her gaze to her empty cup as she spoke. “If anyone should have been punished, it was me. I thought sacrificing my beauty was the bravest thing I could have done, but I should have done it long before the ceremony.”

“But then someone else would have had to marry that awful Ceren,” Blaise said.

I took my sister’s hand. “And nothing would have changed. We’d still be dying of thirst and starvation. Ceren would have finished his devices and forced the Varenians to dive. You did what you believed was right at the time, and no one can fault you for that.”

Zadie blinked, releasing tears onto her cheeks. “You always see the best in people, Nor. I wish you could do the same for yourself.”

I smiled and wiped her tears away with my thumbs. “I’m trying.”

* * *

Late that night, Adriel was lying back on her bed, reading, when she suddenly let out a startled shout. She’d fallen asleep, and the book had landed square on her nose.

“Are you all right?” I asked, trying not to laugh at the disgruntled look on her face.

“I told you this book was dangerous,” she said, rubbing the bridge of her freckled nose. Her eyes narrowed as she squinted at something on the page the book had fallen open to. “Wait. Did we read this before?”

“We’ve read every page in that book at least three times, Adriel.”

“Maybe it’s because I was just hit in the head with a heavy object, but this looks different to me. ‘To break a bond that blood has made, the price must once again be paid. Drink the blood of both as one, until the magic is undone.’”

“You have to drink our blood?” I asked, sitting up. “That can’t be right. Wouldn’t that just bind you to both of us?”

“Not if I say the right spell, apparently. But I would have to have Ceren’s blood to do it. If we’re close enough to Ceren to get his blood, that means we’re close enough to kill him and put all this to an end.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “In the vision I had during the storm, Ceren was bleeding himself. It’s possible he has blood already available for the taking.”

“That would require sneaking into New Castle. We’ve already determined that’s impossible.”

“We have three days until Talia attacks New Castle. Thousands will die, and there’s a very strong possibility Ceren will come out victorious. It seems to me it’s worth at least trying to talk with him. If we send out an emissary to negotiate, someone he’s unlikely to harm—”

“Talin will never allow it, Nor.”

“No,” I conceded. “But his mother might. I have to at least ask.”

“You can’t go behind his back like that. You’d be pitting him against not only you, but his mother as well. He’ll feel like you’ve betrayed his trust. You will have!”

“I know,” I sighed. I understood that trying to fix everything on my own was not necessarily the right way to do things, but I also hadn’t heard an alternative other than all-out war. “Ceren won’t kill me, not if he wants my blood. If there’s any chance I can reason with him, I have to try.”

I pulled on a robe and stepped into the hallway. The castle was dark at this time of night, with a few soldiers posted in the halls, but they knew me by now. I walked toward the wing where Talin and his mother were staying. The soldiers would probably assume I was on my way to see Talin, but I was beyond the point of caring.

I passed his room and found the largest chamber at the end of the hall, guarded by two armed men.

“I need to speak to Queen Talia,” I said. “It’s a matter of urgency.”

“The queen is sleeping,” one of the men replied.

“It can’t wait until morning,” I insisted.

They looked at each other. “Wait here,” one man said as he disappeared into the chambers. He returned a few moments later and gestured for me to enter. Talia wasn’t sleeping, as it turned out. She was poring over a map while her daughter slept soundly in their large bed.