Rosaliy’s fingers were busy, but moving solar beads into different configurations based on the casual arguing of the magical experts around her did not take up much of her thoughts. She was mentally free to fret over her mess of an explanation earlier and wonder why Dmitri wanted to talk to Drake.

Arlana tossed her fire-red head in annoyance at the rock design on the ground in front of her. “No, back where they were before. You’re right, Athena. The arc is all wrong.”

Rosaliy picked up the smooth, glowing beads for the fifth time.

Until Drake was set to leave, Rosaliy had not realized…whatever she had realized. With all they had been through, having him suddenly disappear from her life was going to be a tough blow. Since he was obviously going to disappear anyway, at least she needed to tell him how she felt. It would help if she knew how she felt. Something about being busy trying to stay alive had caused this other spine-tingling feeling to stay hidden in the background.

Absently, she measured off steps to find the mid-point of her newly created arc.

She wanted so badly to have Katyrinna’s children next to her, bouncing with the excitement of their parents’ return, ready to throw themselves into their parents’ arms and pelt them with stories of their adventures. Everything she had done was half finished. Somehow, even though everyone was safe, Rosaliy felt like she had let everyone down. She plunked down a glistening stone.

It was not that she needed to be the hero, after all. That would be selfish. Although maybe she had wanted something for herself, some small piece of notoriety. What did she want? She did not need Drake to love her, but she needed him to understand how special he was to her. She did not need to be the one to rescue the children, but she needed them to be safe.

“Shouldn’t this be a circle?” asked Issabeth, poking critically at the glass stones with her feet.

“Not while the sun is rising,” Athena disagreed. “Although we may need the power of the sun directly overhead.”

Oh, no. Now they were going to have the timing discussion again.

“If it doesn’t work, you can always try again when the sun is overhead,” Rosaliy pointed out. She would appreciate the quiet time alone shredding more roots, anyway.

“I’m sure this will work,” Zaphia exclaimed, bounding up. “Hey, Drake is back!” She waved emphatically toward the birch trees. There he was, lurking with Daniella. Drake was less enthusiastic to be noticed. “Did he decide if he was staying or not?”

Rosaliy snapped out of her stewing. “What?”

Zaphia jumped, startled by Rosaliy’s sharp tone. “Was that a secret? I kind of did just overhear people talking, and maybe I shouldn’t—”

“I didn’t mean to snap,” Rosaliy apologized. “I hadn’t heard.”

Zaphia brightened, happy to know things. “Well, the big scary guard who tells everybody what to do keeps telling everybody to stop gossiping about him because it’s not for sure he’s even staying, so of course that’s all anybody is talking about. I love this place.”

Rosaliy’s heart did a little somersault. It was a happy flip and a nervous one at the same time, so it sort of thudded down into her stomach mid-flip. Drake might be saying. She would have to find him and tell him to forget everything she had said before. She had barely said anything anyway.

“Rose, hold this,” said Athena, planting a crumbling spell book in her arms. Those gray eyes scanned her critically. “Are you sure you’re well enough to be up and about?”

“I wouldn’t miss this either way,” Rosaliy replied. She needed to be doing something useful.

Arlana placed a soft hand on Rosaliy’s shoulder. “Much has been asked from you, young one. Iketa and the rebels were foolish to have overlooked you.”

“I didn’t really do much,” Rosaliy replied.

“I hear that a lot,” Arlana mused. “Perhaps you’ll humor me for a moment. What might have happened if you had done nothing? Or if you had not been here at all.”

“Anyone could have helped in my place,” Rosaliy argued. “I’m no more important than Daniella or Issabeth or Jadelynn or Zaphia or Drake.”

“Do you need to be more important?”

Rosaliy’s cheeks flushed pink. “Of course not. I’m just saying I’m not an influencer, or whatever Iketa and Dalor called it.”

“Sometimes greatness is quiet,” said Arlana. “A comforting smile before a rousing speech. A blanket in the bitter cold. Would another smile have brought confidence? Would another blanket have provided warmth? Perhaps. But the odds of two of those things being at the right time and place are staggeringly small. Would Daniella have depended on anyone but you? Would Issabeth have listened to another person? Would anyone else have sought out Jadelynn? Would Zaphia have trusted another so readily? Would Drake have followed anyone but you?”

Arlana paused while Rosaliy wondered if she had done any of that in the midst of stumbling around making a mess of things.

“We’re ready,” Athena announced.

Arlana leaned forward to kiss Rosaliy on the cheek, lingering to whisper, “Iketa, Dalor, and Ocery saw the lines of the future without seeing. Influencers may guide the future with dramatic spikes and sharp turns, but those lines need anchors, people on whom the future is built. I liked to call those lines heartbeats. Even in my line of work, a heartbeat is rarely noticed until it stops.”

Arlana’s words were so beautiful, Rosaliy would not have objected even if she had enough time to do so, but she was not entirely sure she believed them. Regardless, Arlana had already turned to Athena and nodded. Issabeth drew out the pearl, Arlana raised her hands, the stones glittered, and before Rosaliy could marvel over the symphony of such powerful magic working in harmony, Queen Kat and Alexander were standing at the base of the arc of stones.

Their arrival was so sudden, the entire assembly held its breath, as if afraid the couple might vanish as suddenly as they had appeared. Issabeth recovered first, rushing forward to clasp her brother and her friend. She was more careful than she might have been under normal circumstances, because Kat carried a wrapped bundle in her arms. Wispy periwinkle curls peeked from the top of the bundle.

Kat was as beautiful as ever, but she was tense with anxiousness. A cry escaped her lips at the surprise of finding herself back on solid ground. Alexander registered the change through bleary eyes with less surprise.

“By the fire burst, brother,” Issabeth exclaimed. “You made a person with blue hair.”

“Welcome back,” he teased. “I’m glad to see you alive, too.”

“Yes, yes,” she dismissed. “We’re always glad to see me alive. Explain the baby.”

“It’s her resting contentment color,” he explained. “Orange is the one you have to watch out for.”

“Amazing,” Issabeth murmured, trying to take a closer peek at the snuggled infant. “Have you named her?”

“Not officially,” he answered. “Nothing seems to stick, and she was supposed to be a boy.”

“Oh, the sun,” Kat breathed, closing her eyes and lifting her face. “I missed the sun.”

“I missed food,” Alexander grumbled. “Women made of light have lost all touch with food.”

“Don’t get me started on them,” Kat said through gritted teeth.

The rest of the paralyzed crowd finally ventured forward—Athena and Hale, Arlana and Zaphia, Naxturaen horses and Dmitri. Even Cade could not resist the draw of the homecoming. Obviously, the whole crowd did not approach. Drake and Daniella were still lurking by the trees.

“Where are they?” Kat asked Athena. “Where are Lillya and the twins?”

“They’re not here,” Athena admitted.

“We’re sure they’re safe,” Rosaliy added on hastily.

“Ask her,” Issabeth said darkly, head nodding toward the birch trees.

Kat inhaled a breath upon seeing Daniella, and she scampered off before anyone could tell her more. Even the chilly Daniella looked uneasy to see the new mother hurrying toward her.

“You’re safe,” Kat exclaimed. “You’ve returned.” She stood on tip-toe to gather Daniella into a one-armed hug, complete with a baby whose hair shimmered with strands of gold before settling back to light blue. Kat even kissed Daniella on the cheek. Rosaliy would have expected Daniella to burst into flames upon such a greeting, but her face merely softened to vague surprise. “Why do you worry so?” Kat asked her.

“I don’t know where the children are,” Daniella admitted quietly.

Rosaliy had barely come close enough to hear her. She tried to shoot Drake a curious look to find out what Dmitri had said, but he was avoiding her eyes, so she gave up.

Anguish twisted Kat’s face. “They did not leave the Glade with you?”

Daniella fumbled for an explanation. Rosaliy could appreciate the oddness of the situation for her. What words could Daniella choose to pacify this person she had never met?

“They did,” Rosaliy chimed in, to allay Kat’s fears more than to help the floundering Daniella. “She took them to Kianne. Lillya left a note saying she’d see you soon.”

“But if you took them to Kianne,” Kat pressed Daniella, her pale face frantic, “why don’t you know where they are now?”

“I erased my memory,” Daniella told her.

Alexander exhaled a sharp, annoyed breath. The sun was accentuating purple rings around his eyes. “That’s convenient.”

Kat’s eyes widened. “You don’t remember anything?”

Daniella shook her head a tiny bit. “I will,” she promised quickly. “I’m certain.”

Rosaliy was sure Daniella was lying, but she was not going to argue the permanence of Daniella’s memory condition right now.

“We have a few other pressing concerns to discuss,” suggested Athena carefully.

“Could we do that over food?” grumbled Alexander.

“Yes, let’s get all of you inside,” Athena agreed.

Kat did not look happy about this. The baby was still sleeping, her head coated in wispy pale yellow curls.

Alexander noticed Rosaliy’s stare. “It’s warmer and brighter here,” he told her, pointing at the sun overhead. “Or she’s dreaming about ducklings. Who’s to say?”

“Seer Arlana!” Kat had just noticed her among the throng of people who were trailing her. “What are you doing here?”

“My island is just over the hill,” she answered.

“What?” Alexander exclaimed.

“I was going to break the news a bit more gently,” Athena chided, trying to nudge Kat and Alexander in the direction of the palace steps.

That opened a firestorm. The world had been turned upside down in the span of a week, and every revelation just led to half a dozen more.

The meal soon after was somewhat painful. Kat wanted to be on the move searching for her children, not trying to understand Athena’s explanations of why she had prisoners in her underground dungeon of sorts and an entire country outside. Every time Alexander’s eyes drooped, he looked like he might fall asleep face first on the table. Daniella was a pitiable combination of uncomfortable and nervous, made worse by Hale who kept trying to unsuccessfully uncover what she had done to him and why. Drake similarly had little to say, and Rosaliy could tell he was avoiding her, which was almost impressive around the same table. Her brother Cade could not have been more obvious about the critical way he stared down Drake.

Arlana and Zaphia might have helped balance the combined awkwardness, but they were too busy meeting with the Flifary to establish ground rules for a grounded island. Similarly, Talyrin and Kaylix had nuzzled the baby approvingly outside in their horse forms, but they could do little else until they could transform back into men at sunset.

Cedric had stayed for the impromptu banquet, and the fact that he and Issabeth were the only two comfortably chatting was a clear indication all was not well.

“Are there any other surprises?” Kat asked finally. The baby’s hair was starting to turn green, and turquoise spots were creeping across her entire face, but neither Kat or Alexander seemed concerned. Rosaliy would have loved to meet the interesting infant under better circumstances. As it was, Kat was not going to relinquish the baby to anyone.

“Yes,” remembered Issabeth. “I may have released Shrilynda, and she may be on a crazy rampage right now.”

Kat stood. “That’s it,” she announced. “I’m going to change. I need to be searching. Hale, if you could find Dmitri to get things ready, please. Surely, Issabeth and Arlana can handle this island problem. Athena and Daniella and Rosaliy, I need you to give me a place to go.”

She bustled off with a baby whose hair was growing brighter green by the moment. Many pointed stares were tossed Alexander’s way.

“I’ll do what I can,” he grumbled, head in hand, “but it isn’t as if you’re coming up with any reasonable alternatives to blind searching.”

“Try to give us until tomorrow,” Athena sighed. “I have gotten the seeing pool up and working, so we can at least blindly search from the palace.”

“It’s a start,” he said, pushing himself to a standing position. Poor thing looked like he needed rest more than Katyrinna. Considering how big a magical drain Naxturaen girls could be, he very well might.

Daniella stood. “There will be clues,” she said dully. “I’ll find them.”

Alexander narrowed his eyes at her. “If you left yourself any clues,” he said scathingly, “now is the time to put them together.”