We did not stop until we had gone several leagues into the foothills that formed the base of Starfyre Mountain. Dusk dropped like a purple veil over the sky, forcing us to seek shelter. We chose a spot against a vertical rock face to protect our backs. With only the two of us, keeping watch was more difficult, and any advantage was welcome.

The wraiths did not follow. Whatever magic remained kept them contained within the city, though it was impossible to tell how long that would last. Every day that passed that Vyta was unlit was another day for the wards to weaken, and if that happened, Estrellum–what was left of it–would fall.

"Here," Dante said, holding out a makeshift plate piled high with charred bits of rabbit.

"No, thank you."

"As, you have to eat."

"I'll eat when the thought of eating doesn't make me want to vomit."

Lines formed around his hazel eyes as he set the plate down on a large rock. So close to the mountains, the soil was thin and craggy. Firelight cast shadows over the protruding stones, and every so often—when I let my thoughts wander—the sudden movement would jolt my heart and snap me back to the present.

To a world without Yoko.

"How far is Vyta from here?" Dante asked.

He had been doing that all evening, asking mundane questions he probably knew the answer to. Likely, he had noticed my habit of turning inward and feared letting me fall too far into the darkness that now existed inside of me. The darkness that felt like it was smothering my starlight.

"I don't know. I've never walked there."

I rubbed my hands over my arms, trying to generate warmth. This high up, the late autumn chill had turned downright vicious, and it would only get worse the higher we went. In our haste to escape Radia, we had lost most of our provisions, including bedrolls and blankets.

All that risk sneaking into Yorkton to meet with Hyllie...All for it to end with us losing everything in a matter of days. Everything. A hysterical sob bubbled up in the center of my chest, and I shoved it down hard, burying it under a layer of ice more frigid than the mountain breeze.

This was what it meant to be queen. I had to keep going when everything fell apart around me because my country and its people came first. Even worse, it wasn't just Estrellum relying on me, but our world. My grief barely measured against the losses we would face if we failed.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" I asked with a sigh.

Snaps and hisses emanated from the fire as the wood shifted. Sparks flurried upward. I watched their ascent until they burned out, and when I lowered my gaze, I found Dante watching me with worry in his expression.

"Don't what?" I asked again.

"Push it all down. I can see what you're doing."

"And what good is hurting going to do me right now? If I don't shut it off, I won't be able to go on."

"It probably feels like that, but I promise you will."

I laughed bitterly. "You learned that while living in the Governor's mansion? Living the life of a spoiled lord?"

The moment I spoke those words, I regretted them. Not only because I was throwing stones while living in a glass house, but also because Dante didn't deserve to be punished for my pain. As much as I wanted to blame someone besides myself, he had not made Yoko go out alone.

Rather than snap back at me, he offered me a sad smile. "Unfortunately, I learned that lesson when I watched Edreshian soldiers drag my mother, father, and little sister into the courtyard of our home."

His voice broke when he mentioned his sister. Aeyella. My memories of her were vague. She couldn't have been more than six sun cycles when the war ended, and on the few occasions the Ishtans came to court, she stayed home with her nanny.

"You don't have to talk about this," I said, guilt gnawing at me. Since reuniting with him, I had not asked him what happened to his family.

"I want to." His voice was hoarse. "I haven't talked about them in over fifteen years. It wasn't allowed."

"Fifteen..." I counted back. That meant they had targeted his family shortly after I was taken.

"It all happened so quickly. News reached us that you'd been taken, and then the Edreshian armies started attacking high-ranking families. They wanted to leave your mother without any allies. We were supposed to cut through the Araphelian pass, get on a boat, and sail across the Crystal Sea to Avlonia."

"The land beyond the mists? That's a myth."

"My mother didn't seem to think so. Her mother was from the same province as Yo...She was from the old Sea Court, and they said it was an actual place. You had to be able to talk to the sea to find it. Aeyella had the gift."

"But the soldiers found you?"

He nodded, his shoulders curving toward his ears as he hunched over, resting his forearms on his knees. "We didn't even have a chance to draw a sword or use magic. They arrived like phantoms. To this day, I wonder how it happened. Someone had to betray us. They dragged us all out to the courtyard and made my father and me watch as they slit my mother's throat."

I blinked back tears of rage and sadness. How could anyone be so cruel? What was the point of torturing people who had already lost?

His tone shifted, going flat as he continued speaking. "They put the knife in my hand and told me I could save my sister's life if I killed my father. When I hesitated, my father put his hands around my wrists, told me he loved me, and drove the dagger into his own throat."

"Dante, no." I slid off my log and onto my knees. Fingers curling into the dirt, I anchored myself in the land.

"It didn't save my sister. They laughed and slit her throat next. By that time, General Valstor–the elf who is now the Yorkton governor–arrived. His family often traveled with him, and his wife declared she liked the look of me. She told him she sensed great power, and it would be a shame to waste it. I sat in the dirt, covered in my father's blood, while they discussed breeding me like chattel."

He came around the fire and squatted before me. Putting his hand under my chin, he forced me to look him directly in the eye as he said, "So, yes, I know a little something about wanting to shut down. To forget every fucking painful moment so that I can breathe just a little easier. The only thing that comes from that is turning into a soulless monster, and I will be damned if I watch you do that to yourself."

"But you're not a monster, Dante."

The hand under my chin shifted and cupped my cheek. "Not anymore."

A twig snapped again. Only this time, it wasn't one in the fire. We leapt to our feet and faced the thicket, our gazes locked on the darkness just outside of the ring of light. Yoko would be furious that we had let our guards down and allowed something to get this close.

"Show yourself," Dante commanded.

Green light tinged the tips of his fingers. I did not draw upon my starlight since we had agreed it would be best to keep my identity a secret if we met anyone else along the road. Though, I wasn't certain I could call it forward now, anyway.

A woman stepped out of the shadows. Tall and plump with tawny skin, she wore a simple but finely made gown of blue. A silver circlet with a sapphire starburst in the center rested just above her thick brows. She would have been the perfect picture of a High Elf if not for the jagged scar slicing across her left eye, turning it white and useless.

She did not appear to be a threat, but neither had Lira.

"Lord Ishtan. You have certainly grown." Her lush lips stretched into a wide smile as she looked him over. It grew wider still when she looked at me. "And Princess–excuse me–Queen Astreia, you have fulfilled every promise of beauty and grace."

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Dante asked.

My mind spun. The face was not familiar to me, but time and injury might have changed her appearance too much. Her voice, though. There was something about it that tugged at a memory.

She touched her eye. "Perhaps I have changed too greatly, though certainly not as much as you two. Little more than babes the last time I saw you. Do you still have a temper, little starfire?"

"Calm down, starfire. You'll set the entire library ablaze, and then your mother will never let me watch you again."

The memory hit me so hard I swayed. Two beautiful blue eyes twinkled at me from a face that I had never seen sad. Not even now.

"Aunt Iona!"

Dimples popped in her cheeks. "Hello, love. Welcome home."