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“Are you disappointed?”

I look back at the stars. At the city below. At the worn sleeves of this borrowed robe. At my hands.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I didn’t expect it to remind me so much of⁠—”

“Castletree,” Wrenley says.

“The arches, how this palace was laid out, even the way Aurelia designed the doors… They’re not the same, and yet…”

“Echoes,” Wrenley finishes. “And it feels safe.”

I know what she means without her saying the exact words. “Sira can’t get us up here.”

Wrenley leans on her knees and places her chin in her hands. “Sira can’t control me anymore without Aurelia’s bargain, but a part of me is still worried. If—when—we face her again, would I just do as she commands, bargain or no?”

I gently rub her back. “The control our mother had over us wasn’t just magic. Stars know I obeyed her with no bargain for decades. But every day we wake up away from her, every day we make our own choices and trust in ourselves, is one step closer to severing that tether forever. Time is the only answer.”

For both of us.

Wrenley straightens. “Then we have to be free long enough for that to happen.”

Her little braids bob, and I note the brightly colored elastics at the bottom that are usually around my mate’s wrist. “Did Rosalina do your hair? In Autumn, it’s said people weave well-wishes into braids.”

“Ugh, shut up.” Wrenley flushes and smacks me in the chest. “She said my hair was getting in my eyes.”

I smirk and lean back on my hands, looking at the ruins of this place. What was it named? Who lived here? What did the people do?

Is this what it feels like inside Farron’s mind all the time, with hundreds of questions bouncing around?

Must be exhausting.

“We can explore the city tomorrow,” I say. Ezryn stayed out later than everyone else, looking for signs of a forge, but came across nothing that resembled one.

“Sure,” Wrenley says. “This place… Never mind. It’s stupid.”

“Hey.” I reach out and take her hand. “I’m your brother. You can tell me anything. And if it’s stupid, I will let you know. Honestly.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “I’ve had this weird feeling since we got here. I can’t explain it.”

“Like you’ve been here before?”

“No, not that. But…I know where we should explore tomorrow. And it’s not in the city.”

Something prickles along the back of my neck. “Where should we look?”

Wrenley nods up.

I follow her gaze. Floating high above the palace is another isle, this one smaller, but large waterfalls cascade off, ends turning to mist in the air.

“There, Birdy?” I ask, pointing.

“No.” She takes my hand, guiding it higher.

I squint. More and more isles come into view, most nothing but black silhouettes against the backdrop of stars. But the one she’s pointing at is so far, I could mistake it for a star.

“There.”

“Quite the journey,” I say.