He slipped into smoke, gone in an instant.

The other spirits closed in around me, but now their wails and accusations didn’t wound as much as they had before. I still felt their cries acutely, but they didn’t incapacitate me.

“Your deaths were necessary,” I said, to them and to myself. I looked at my warriors, the Guardians, Elpis, Laius. “Some of you knew this; some of you chose it. Some of you were bystanders,” I added, looking at Archduke Etmond and Hoa. “But you died honorably and I hope that you have found peace.”

Hoa’s wailing quieted first, and for just an instant, there was a spark in her lifeless eyes. She brought a hand up to my cheek, and I felt her touch again.

“My Phiren,” she murmured to me.

I touched my flaming hand to her cheek and let her go.

Archduke Etmond followed, then the trio of Guardians. Elpis. Laius. Each of them bowed their head to me before I set them free. My soldiers were next, a seemingly endless line of them in their mishmash of colors. Astrean, Gorakian, Rajinkian—no matter where they’d come from, I kissed their forehead, placed my hand on their cheek, and set them free.

HERON WAKES ME THE NEXT morning when the sun is a mere suggestion in the sky, the barest hint of dawn light bleeding through my tent.

“Theo?” he says, shaking my shoulder.

I force myself to breathe in, breathe out as the dream slowly loosens its grip on my mind. Artemisia was right—that memory of the mines was even more difficult than the first. I can still feel their hands on me, still hear their shrieks, still feel the guilt like lead in my chest. But I set them free, I let them go, I honored them the only way I could. It was a test I passed.

“Are you all right?” Heron asks.

I’m not sure how to answer that. “Another memory from the mine,” I tell him softly.

He understands and doesn’t press the matter.

“You’re here,” he says instead. “You survived. You’re all right.”

I nod once. I survived, but that isn’t what hurt so much about that memory—it was all the people who hadn’t. But Ampelio was right. We wouldn’t have come this far without their sacrifice, and I owe it to them to honor it.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him, pushing the thought from my mind.

He shakes his head, lips pursing. “We thought it best that Erik speak with Jian—as terrible as his Gorakian is, we thought he’d be able to explain what happened with Brigitta better than the rest of us.”

“And? Was he?” I ask.

In truth, I all but forgot about Jian, in the chaotic day we’ve had. I wonder how Laius is doing, though I know I’ll drive myself mad if I keep thinking along those lines. He knew what he was choosing when he volunteered to take Jian’s place. All I can do now is honor his sacrifice.

Heron doesn’t answer right away. He takes me by the arm and steers me toward one of the guard barracks by the dining hall.

“Best if you hear for yourself,” he says.

* * *

—

Erik and Jian are waiting in the barracks, and when I enter, they both get to their feet. A swath of black fabric has been tied over Erik’s eyes—both the one that’s missing and the one that’s swollen shut—but I see his forehead furrow.

“Theo?” he asks.

“It’s me,” I say as Heron closes the door behind us. “Heron said there was something urgent?”

Erik glances in Jian’s direction before looking back toward me.

“The weapon Jian developed. The velastra,” he says slowly. “That was why you kept him here, yes?”

“Yes,” I say. “An alchemical weapon—a gas that takes away the will of anyone who inhales it. You see why we couldn’t trade him to Cress.”

Heron clears his throat behind me. “Apparently not an alchemical weapon,” he says. “At least not entirely. A combination, of sorts, with Spiritgems.”

“Spiritgems?” I ask. “But this was long before the Kalovaxians thought to invade Astrea.”

“Apparently some gems had…leaked out over the years. Were traded and re-traded until no one knew where they’d come from. It would seem the Theyn had a couple of them.”

I remember how the Theyn liked to collect things from other cultures, how the rooms he and Cress had in the palace were so full of artifacts that they resembled a museum.

“The velastra was used only once, according to Jian,” Erik says. “That was when Jian and Brigitta decided to flee. They knew if the Kalovaxians had access to a weapon like that, they would be able to hold the entire world on a leash.”

I nod. “Brigitta told me as much. But we have Jian—so the velastra is out of the Kalovaxians’ grasp.”

No one responds right away.

“We do have Jian,” Erik says finally. “But as it turns out, he didn’t make the weapon alone. Brigitta wasn’t only his paramour; they were partners. She developed it with him.”

Jian looks between all of us. He might not understand much of what we’re saying, but he understands his name and Brigitta’s.

“We destroyed the prototype,” he says, stumbling over the Kalovaxian words. “But she has the plan, here.” He points to his head, his expression grave. He points to his heart as well. “And here,” he adds.

“In her heart?” I ask, frowning.

He shakes his head. “In her blood.”

I swallow, the nausea returning tenfold. “The subject the velastra was used on,” I say slowly.

Jian nods, his frown deepening as he searches for the words. “The effect…it lasted months after we fled. And we ran tests—the effect wore off, but the poison never left her.”

My legs give out beneath me, and Heron helps me into a chair.

“So even if she doesn’t break under the torture,” I say slowly, forcing the words out, “the secret of it is right there for the taking.”

“Cress won’t know that,” Erik says. “Even if she found out her mother was a test subject for the velastra, she won’t know it lingered. Jian only knew because of the tests they ran—tests there’s no way for Cress to have any idea about.”

I wish that reassured me, but it doesn’t. I know Cress too well to make the mistake of underestimating her, and I know there is nothing Cress loves more than a good puzzle. And here I’ve hand-delivered her a puzzle that will destroy the world if—when—she manages to solve it.

* * *

—

After word of the velastra is passed on to Artemisia, S?ren, Blaise, and Maile, they meet Heron, Erik, and me in the commandant’s office, where we proceed to stare at the large map of Astrea painted on the wall, and argue.

We have to get to the capital before Cress figures out how to replicate the velastra. Everyone agrees on that point. What no one can seem to agree on is how we should go about doing it.

“The Air Mine is the closest to us,” S?ren says, pointing it out on the map that takes up the bulk of one wall. It’s a fine map, but even at first glance, it’s clear that it’s missing a few geological features—Lake Trilia, for instance, and part of the mountain range. It seems to have been used mostly for decorative purposes, but it’s enough to get the point across at the moment.

“It’s the obvious choice,” S?ren continues. “We can’t waste any time, and once we free the slaves there, we should have enough men to take the palace.”

Maile nods along, arms folded over her chest. “You’re right,” she says after a moment, and even Erik looks shocked to hear those words come from her mouth. “It is the obvious choice, and so it’s the one the Kalovaxians will expect. In all likelihood, we’ll be walking into a trap.”

“Cr…The Kaiserin doesn’t know we’re already here at the Water Mine,” I point out. “We have at least another two days before she gets back to the palace, provided she rides all night. We’re a step ahead of her. We can make it to the Air Mine before she knows we’re heading there.”

“In an ideal world, yes,” S?ren says. “But in order to reach the Air Mine, we have to travel past the Ovelgan estate, which is right around here.” He points to an unmarked place on the edge of the Perea Forest. “As soon as the Ovelgans see us, they’ll alert the Kaiserin and she’ll put the pieces together.”

“We’ll take cover, then,” Erik says.

S?ren shakes his head. “It’s flat land, and once we’re out of the forest, it’s barren as well. No trees. No mountains. Nowhere to hide.”

“The cover of night, then,” Erik replies.

That gives S?ren a second of pause. “It would be a large risk to take,” he says. “Especially if we have other options. I think we’d be better off heading to the Earth Mine instead. You said Dragonsbane was going to attack there after bringing the refugees to Doraz?”

I nod. “One of her carrier pigeons found us just yesterday—she just left Doraz and should arrive at the Earth Mine in two days’ time.”