Page 174 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

“There was a ship that left before everyone else. Seamus told me about it,” I confirm.

“So we will go to Northmost tomorrow. See if we can find her.” He scratches his chin. “I cannot imagine who the lord would be who held her hostage.”

“An easterner who escaped and used her to gain passage out?” Abarrane suggests.

“Yes. Maybe.” Zander paces around the stone circle. “What Sofie said about Malachi finding another host and returning … How are we to rid ourselves of him if this is the case? If he can simply return in another form and then what? Are we to live this nightmare over and over again for all of eternity?”

“Is it true?” I ask Lucretia.

“I cannot tell you what the Fate of Fire will choose to do.”

“But can he turn around and come back through the Nulling if he wants to?”

“Yes. The passage is open.”

“And we can’t close it.”

“You cannot do anything. Only my previous masters can choose to close the Nulling.”

“And how do we make them choose to do that?” Abarrane demands.

“You wish them to return to exile after they have done so much for your kind?” The smirk on Lucretia’s face is infuriating.

“Why not? I mean, where are they, anyway?” I throw my hands out. “I don’t see them anywhere!”

“There is as much that you do not see as that which you do.” She smiles. “Perhaps Her Highness should summon Aminadav or Vin’nyla for counsel.”

“No.” Why is she pushing for that?

“It is your choice to not heed my advice.” She shrugs. “The not-queen uses the wormhole.”

I falter at the sudden change in topic, and then process what she’s telling me.

Zander frowns. “What does she—”

“The nymphaeum door.” God, I wish I had never called it anything but that. “What do you mean, Sofie uses it? She can do that?”

“Of course she can. The not-queen of Islor is a powerful wielder like you. These passages were built for them and the rulers they served.”

“Can Sofie come here?” I point to the door that leads to Cirilea, momentary panic setting in.

Lucretia’s musical laugh carries. “These will not open for anyone but the Queen for All.”

With a heavy sigh of relief, I ask, “Then where does Cirilea’s door lead for Sofie?”

“To a place deep within a cave where the Fate of Fire can collect more soldiers. There is a stream there and a gateway to the Nulling.”

“Fates. I know where it is.” Zander closes his eyes for a moment. “Radomir showed me a nymphaeum door in Soldor. There’s a gaping hole in the side of the mountain. I was going to tell you, but with everything else going on, it slipped my mind. That must be where these Saur’goths are coming in.”

“And how Malachi and Sofie got to Cirilea so fast.” It makes sense now. “Where else can she go?”

“The not-queen’s path is limited by the designs of those who used these doors when they were created.”

“The nymphs.”

“And their people. But the Queen for All is not limited.” She gestures around the room.

“Which one leads to Soldor?”

---