Page 77 of Golden Star

To get scared about it.

“What’s he saying?” Zoey’s voice breaks through my hesitation.

Quickly, I catch her up.

She glances up at the night sky, then back to me. “Then it sounds like you need to lead us northwest, Star Navigator,” she says, as if she has no idea why I’m questioning the plan at all.

“Really?” I ask. “You want to tryjumping a ravine?In your state?”

In what state?Riven’s voice echoes through my mind at the same time as Zoey tells me that I’ll be the one jumping us across the ravine—not her.

Crap. I forgot to release the stone while I was talking to Zoey. Which means Riven could hear what I said to her.

“I’m fine,” I say to Riven, ignoring Zoey’s comment for now.

And Zoey?

“We had an incident with ice dragons. But she’s alive and walking.”

That’s more than either of you will be if you go to the silver tree,he says.But I can convince my knights that you wouldn’t be stupid enough to cross into the Wandering Wilds. I’ll divert them, while you get out of here.

Great.

I stare at the whisper stone in annoyance. Because he’s asking me to do something apparently so idiotic that he can easily convince his knights not to follow.

This isn’t promising.

But he’s made it clear he wants me alive.

Unless he’s wanted me off his territory this entire time? Could this have all been a scheme to convince us to trust him enough to make what would apparently be the dumbest decision we could make in the trials?

I’m the only person in this entire court who cares about keeping the two of you alive,Riven says, as if he can read my hesitation through the stone.And if you want to stay alive, you’ll head west after crossing the ravine until you see a grove of frost-tipped pines. Look for a cluster of stark white birch trees with twisted trunks and follow them until you reach a fallen tree shaped like an arch. Continue through the Snow Blossom Glade, and beyond that, the entrance to the cave is hidden by a wall of frost ivy. My mother and I used to go there when I was young so she could find… well, it’s not important now. Just go. I’ll see you soon.

Knowing I’ll never remember all of those instructions, I rattle them off to Zoey. Riven has to correct me once or twice, but eventually, we get it.

I have to go,Riven says abruptly.I’ll see you soon. And Sapphire?

“Yes?”

Good luck.

I stare at the whisper stone, the sound of Riven’s last words echoing through my mind like a drumbeat.

Good luck.

It feels like a farewell, a promise, and a warning all at once.

Doubt coils in my stomach like a living thing as I think through our options.

If we go to the silver tree, we’ll face the king’s men. If they’re anything like the king—or simply follow his orders, as I expect—then they’ll kill us. Violently.

I shove the stone back into my pocket and turn to Zoey. She’s pale and shivering, her breaths shallow and sharp, her blood staining the makeshift bandage that I’m not sure will hold for much longer.

There’s no saying how far we are from the border of these Wandering Wilds.

But what other option do we have?

“Looks like we’re going northwest,” I finally say.

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