Page 187 of The Iron Flower

“The Council has thrown all Icarals who were once in the Sanitorium into the Valgard prison,” Tierney gruffly whispers, her finger moving along the lines of text. “And it seems your aunt is making good use of the anti-Icaral fervor that Marcus Vogel has whipped up.”

We read, with rising horror, about how my aunt’s taken to pulling Icarals from the cells in Valgard’s prison and marching them through the city streets, the crowds stirred up into a mob-like frenzy. She hauls the Icarals, one by one, to the Mage Council meetings, demanding that the “demons” be cut down.

So far, she’s succeeded in bringing about the public execution of four Icarals on the steps of Valgard Cathedral.

“She’s trying to regain her good name,” I murmur to Tierney with scathing revulsion. “She’s Banished my brothers from the family, and now she’s propping up her hold on her Mage Council seat by doing this.”

“Ariel and Wynterhaveto get out of here,” Tierney says in a low, tense whisper. “Someone will come to the North Tower at some point.”

“I know. But Cael and Rhys should be back any day now.” I don’t like how unsure my own voice sounds when I say this.

Tierney’s expression becomes oddly hesitant. “Elloren,” she whispers haltingly, as if having difficulty forming her thought.

Anxiety rises in me. “What is it?”

She swallows and struggles to meet my eyes. “Valasca sent word...” She scans the broad room, moving closer and lowering her whisper until it’s faint as a feather’s brush. “The Amaz have figured out how to remove Asrai glamours. They’re going to—” she gestures toward her body “—pull thisthingoff of me.”

My eyes widen. “Tierney...that’s incredible.”

“They’ve figured out how to draw off even layered glamours and trap them in rune-stones. That way they can use them to glamour someone else, if needed.”

I stare at her in amazement. “That’s a powerful skill.”

Tierney’s gaze turns somber, her eyes flicking around cautiously. “Yeah, well, the Amaz will need every advantage they can secure in this new Realm.”

“So, they’ll pull your glamour off...permanently?”

Tierney nods, and the ramifications of this wash over me. What will she look like when she’s been stripped of the glamour that’s imprisoned her for almost her whole life? What powers will she finally be able to access?

“Elloren,” she whispers falteringly, “Valasca and Alder are pulling the glamour off me in six days’ time. Once it’s removed, I’ll be able to morph with water in my true form. So...I’ll be leaving for the Eastern Realm.”

It stuns me, how hard her news strikes me. I’ve known for a while now that Tierney would eventually leave—that shemustleave. But I never realized how catastrophic the imminent loss of my irascible, intellectually fierce friend would actually feel.

I blink hard, suddenly fighting back the tears and abruptly choked up. I roughly wipe a stray tear away. “I’m sorry, but... I’ll miss you.”

Tierney attempts a sardonic look, but her lip trembles at the edges. “Even though I snarl at you all the time?”

A laugh bursts from me, and I smile waveringly at her through a sheen of tears. “I’m glad you’re leaving,” I whisper emphatically.I’ll miss you desperately. I’ll be so alone.“I wantyou to go. I’ll be so happy just knowing you’re safe.”

It’s going to shatter my heart to have you all gone.

* * *

The next night, I’m back in the North Tower, my forehead pressed against the cool glass of the window, the night clear, the field before me silvered by moonlight.

I wonder where Yvan is right now, and if he’s looking at the same moon. A forlorn sadness washes over me as I let my eyes slide down the night-grayed peaks of the Spine toward the wilds below.

A shadow bursts from the trees, and I flinch back. At first, I assume it must be Cael, and I squint to make out exactly what I’m seeing—a dark figure on horseback, racing toward the North Tower. But then I notice that the horse has an odd, flowing quality to its gait, its inky body reflecting the moonlight in undulating silver lines.

My pulse leaps.

What in the Ancient One’s name is Tierney doing?She’s risking everything, riding a Kelpie out in the open.

Her name bursts from my lips. “Tierney!”

I jump down from the sill, meeting Ariel’s and Wynter’s looks of surprise, my outburst seeming to have galvanized Wynter to sudden attention.

“She’s on a Kelpie,” I hastily tell them as I rush to the door. “Something’s wrong.”

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