The ridge was behind them, but the weight it left clung to Solene like frost on her skin.
She walked faster now—each step harsher than the last, boots crunching over frozen earth. Her cloak flared with her movements, ice magic simmering beneath her every breath like a storm barely held in check.
Seraphyne kept pace beside her, silent at first. Watching. Calculating.
"You're not talking," she finally said, voice low, almost careful.
Solene didn't look at her. "I'm thinking."
"Thinking or panicking?"
"Same thing right now."
They moved down the mountain path, snow swirling in soft, relentless flurries. The trees grew thinner, revealing stretches of road that wound toward the distant spires of Tartarus, the city of the Cael family's iron rule—stone towers, blood-colored banners, and secrets buried deeper than foundations.
Seraphyne glanced sideways. "Tell me."
Solene hesitated. Her voice, when it came, was tight. "Gareth said something before he died. Something about Nerys."
Seraphyne's brow rose, but she didn't interrupt.
"He said they found out. About me and her. That Adriana imprisoned her. Maybe worse." She paused. "He wanted to use it against me. Wanted to use her."
Seraphyne's eyes darkened. "So you think she's—"
"I don't know." Solene's voice cracked. "I can't not know."
A beat of silence.
Then Solene added, "I'm going back."
Seraphyne stopped walking. "Back? To the Estate?"
"To Tartarus first. I need information. If she's alive, there will be whispers. Soldiers. Logs. Something."
"And if she's not?"
Solene didn't answer. Her hands clenched at her sides. The snow around her feet hissed as it froze harder under her.
Seraphyne stared at her a moment longer. Then nodded once. "Then we go."
They moved again, quicker now. The wind howled louder. Trees blurred past. Seraphyne drew her hood low, her steps silent despite the snow. Solene walked like a weapon now—sharp, fast, barely holding together at the seams.
As dusk fell, the edge of Tartarus appeared—sharp towers slicing through fog, streets coiled around them like veins. Even from miles out, they could see the flickering torchlights of patrols. Black-armored guards. Cael soldiers.
Solene slowed.
She stared at the gates.
"I grew up behind those walls," she said. "Trained in courtyards that bled discipline and fire. They taught me how to freeze, but never how to feel."
Seraphyne stepped beside her. "You're feeling now."
"That's the problem."
Another gust of wind tugged at their cloaks. Solene's breath came out in a trembling exhale.
"I don't know what I'll do if she's not there," she said.
"You'll burn the place down," Seraphyne said, simple and certain.
Solene looked at her—really looked—and saw no hesitation.
"…Yeah," Solene whispered. "I think I will."
The gates of Tartarus loomed ahead.
They didn't stop walking.