How could they expect me to go to the Midnight Court? I had to remind myself they only spoke of what they saw. Perhaps it meant they’d already seen me fail at defeating Aeval, and I would return to the world of Man. A part of me secretly hoped for it. But as the moment in the cherry orchard receded into the distance, I began to wonder whether I might have hallucinated it out of anxiety. Had I only heard the voice because I’d been wishing to hear it? We made camp on the second night near the base of what had once been named Arkhangel’sk Mountain, at the glade where Kae had first been lost to us. We’d stopped for the night in this same spot on the way to Aravoth to meet with the Elohim, and my dreams then had been fitful and disturbing. Once again, I wished we could camp anywhere but here, but it was the most accommodating space. While the cook prepared our meal, I took a walk in the settling dusk to clear my head. Tomorrow we’d begin traveling on the open road, and this might be the last moment of solitude I would have for some time.
