Kaolin threw Kodak's blue cloak over Minerva's shoulders. "I've packed two trunks with everything you should need. They're already in the care of the embassy."

Stepping into the thick, fur-lined boots Kaolin had set before her, Minerva looked around her aunt's room. It never had the time to become hers. Now, with her belongings stashed for travel, it seemed as empty and abandoned as ever.

"How long have you anticipated this?" Minerva tested her tread. The boots fit snugly, much like the dress she'd had to pull on over her head. She felt like a walking puffball despite the thick clothes being her size.

"Long enough." Kaolin pulled up the cloak's hood, tucking any strands of Minerva's black hair out of sight. "The Hydro King wanted your hand for his son, while the Draco Empress arranged for the same. Her Highness Kovine wanted you out of the empire. Two out of the three will be content with the outcome of this."

"You should have told me. You never even hinted at the politics going on behind the scenes."

Kaolin huffed, sweeping her bangs from her face. "You would have gone catatonic. Don't tell me you wouldn't locked yourself in your room before trying to break Tobias' nose—or Kodak's for that matter. I needed you neutral. Besides, you did better than that. You kept the Hydro prince charmed."

Minerva glanced at her feet. "I don't think he'll be very fond of me after what I did in the arena."

Finger under Minerva's chin, Kaolin tipped her head up so their eyes met. "Don't talk that way. You don't have the luxury of hiding anymore and I won't be around to help you. Kovine may not be out for your blood, but she's a puppet too. There are evil forces at work in the world that want to rule us and they'll suck humanity dry to do it."

"The Immortals," Minerva whispered.

Kaolin nodded. "Things are going to get worse before there's a chance of them getting better. The Immortals want war—they feed off it. There's no other good reason for the empire to be rallying against a former ally."

"How do you know so much about them?"

Kaolin stepped up to a portrait hanging on the wall—artwork of the Flower Maiden. When her lover died in the Imperial War, she opened her mansion as a haven for those who returned to recover from its atrocities. Decades later, she passed away in her sleep and they laid her in a small boat on a lake covered with cherry blossoms. She had never married, but as the boat and her body burned, the hundreds of men and children she'd taken in wept for her.

In the portrait, the Flower Maiden slept in the boat on a bed of pink and white flowers. A peaceful smile played about her lips, as if she'd gone home to meet her beloved at last.

Kaolin slid the frame aside, a panel of the wall moving with it. A woman stepped out of the dark recess behind.

"Nola!" Minerva ran to her nurse and hugged her tight. The fabric of her shirt smelled of woodsmoke and herbs. "I thought you'd left to visit relatives in Manticar," she said, Nola's shoulder muffling her voice.

Nola patted Minerva on the back. "And leave you to get neck deep in trouble after all the work of raising you for almost twenty years? I think not."

"Aunt Nola knows the ancient texts well," Kaolin said. "They speak of the gods' return and the end of the age."

Nola scoffed, squeezing Minerva one last time before pulling away. "Well is an overstatement." She peered at Minerva's eyes. "Your mother spoke to you?"

"She did, though I don't understand all of her riddles. I only know that I can't remain here ... Will either of you be coming with me?"

Kaolin and Nola shared a sober glance.

"Kaolin and Mala will be heading south as your decoy," Nola answered. "I will remain in the empire."

"I see." A cold dread settled in Minerva's stomach. When compared to a forced marriage, exile had sounded like a stroll in the gardens. But now reality set in. Exile meant living alone in a foreign land, at the mercy of people she didn't belong with. "Are we sure the Hydros will receive me?"

Kaolin fidgeted with the dagger at her belt. "I called Taras' oath into question. He didn't expect it to be used in this way, but has agreed to offer you sanctuary and his protection."

At least until the war begins. Minerva hoped she'd be an ineffective bargaining chip, but blood would run hot—or cold for the Hydros—and she might only be safe as a prisoner then.

"You need to go," Kaolin whispered to Nola. "They'll reach the crossroads soon."

"Be safe." Nola touched Kaolin's forehead with her finger and uttered a short prayer before tugging Minerva toward the passage in the walls.

Minerva reached for her maidservant's hand. "You are no traitor, Kaolin Hyrelle. I should have trusted you better."

"You'll have another opportunity." Kaolin released her hand. "We'll meet again someday."

They plunged into the darkness. Nola snapped her fingers and a green flame flickered into existence. While they hurried down the narrow corridors, Minerva tried to map their progress in her head, but Nola didn't lead her in directions she knew.

"Where are we going?"

"To where the north road forks." Nola sneezed and the eerie green light winked out. "Too much dust down here."

"I didn't know there were passages leading to outside the city." Minerva cupped her hand and summoned a ball of white fire. Tethering it to her, she flicked her wrist to send the orb floating a few feet ahead of them.

Nola blinked at the intensity of Minerva's flame until she dampened it down. "Not many know of these paths. They caved in generations ago and have only recently been dug out."

When the neat stone flooring and walls turned to dirt shot through with roots, Minerva knew they'd gone underground. After her first and final visit with the rats, she hadn't ventured this deep into the tunnels except to circumvent the palace wall.

"What am I supposed to do in exile?" Minerva asked.

Nola glanced back at her. "If you're expecting marching orders, I don't have any. I'd suggest avoiding offending your hosts and doing your best to break the curse."

"Those tasks sound equally impossible," Minerva said with a vacant laugh.

The trip and Nola's uncommunicative nature left Minerva plenty of time to think. What could she have done to prevent this extreme solution? She could have gone with Kaage, but in the event of danger, she likely would have succumbed to the hollow place and Nemesis' poison.

Kaage ... she hadn't met him as they'd planned. She hadn't said goodbye. And for all she knew, there would be danger looming ahead in the Icelands.

Maybe this was for the best—a clean cut of all ties. At least, Minerva attempted to convince herself of it.

They trudged through tunnels for what seemed like hours with Nola muttering to herself and pausing at intersections. Sometimes she craned her neck upward, which Minerva took as her cue to shed light on the ceiling. After reading the symbols etched in the crumbling rock, Nola would proceed down the chosen path.

Minerva leaned against the wall at one such intersection and sipped water from the flask she'd found in her cloak's pocket. When she returned it to its place, the cold glass clinked against a metal object.

Her ring. The ruby eyes of the snake glimmered in the dim light like dying embers. Aunt Edina had always told her a bad promise was better broken. Maybe she'd held onto this token long enough. But the screams of children burning on Phoenix's pyre smote her ears—children with pale skin and not enough flesh to pad their bones. Did she really need to let go of their innocent cries as well?

A small voice told her she did. Vengeance could not save them and she'd only lose herself. Minerva sighed and tucked the ring back in her pocket.

"We're here," Nola said several branched halls later. She gestured to the dead end—a small square room with a low ceiling.

Minerva's fire orb skimmed the four walls. "Nice place. Could use a better view though."

Nola rolled her eyes. Crouching, she reached the center of the room and shoved upward with her palms flat against the earth above. "Help me," she grunted.

With their combined efforts, the trapdoor creaked open. Minerva climbed out of the hole to find a meadow. A herd of toka raised their heads to stare at her, their jaws working to chew their cud. Nola brushed off her skirts. When she shut the opening, it blended with the landscape—one rock among many dotting the countryside.

"Perfect timing," Nola remarked, nodding her head at the procession approaching.

Once again, Minerva listened to the jangle of harnesses and hooves striking stone, only this time she had no crowd to disappear into. Nola tugged her by the sleeve to meet the Hydro embassy.

"Beautiful evening, yes?" her nurse called. "The moon especially."

The sky held no moon.

"A welcome sight for the weary traveler," the Hydro king answered. He bowed from his saddle. At his gesture, one of the riders dismounted and led their toka to Minerva. The shaggy white beast tossed its head.

"This is Aquarius," Brenna said. "Take good care of her, Min."

"You mean you aren't coming?" Minerva held her hand out for the toka to sniff.

Brenna shook her head. "My work in the empire isn't done. I only traveled this far so the right number of people would be counted at the city's checkpoints. You'll take my place now."

Heart sinking, Minerva said, "I thought I'd be in your company. I—"

"We must go while the night is young," Taras interrupted. "The longer we tarry, the greater the chance of your flight being discovered."

Minerva bit her tongue to stop the panic welling up in her chest. More than the panic, she worried that she'd vomit in front of the group of Hydros and seal her first impression on them as a terrible one.

"You'll be well," Brenna whispered, giving her a hug. "Let me boost you up. Aquarius has long legs."

Stepping into Brenna's cupped hands, Minerva swung her other leg over the toka's back. Aquarius danced beneath her until she adjusted the reins. Nola reached up to squeeze her ankle. "Be safe, little blossom."

"Nola, I—" Minerva choked on gathering tears. How many times had she wished to be rid of Nola and her constant nagging? Now she wanted nothing more than to stand by the fireplace while her nurse scolded her staying out late and the new cuts she'd have to tend to.

But Taras gave the order and Aquarius bore her away in a trot, taking her away from everything she'd known and loved. Minerva turned in her saddle for a last longing look.

Nola and Brenna stood by the roadside. Behind them, sunset abandoned the city of Pyronia to shadow and night.