Outside the structure where Saya and Ember were kept, the air felt cooler. Kar glanced at Tharn and Erio as he stepped out the door. They seemed to be competing with the human Guardians over who could look more statuesque. It seemed an unfair competition.

  Kar paused at the edge of the terrace, mulling over Saya and the claim she had staked over Ember. Something else to sort out.

  He looked out across the Enclave below. From this height, it seemed tranquil and serene. Neat rows of stone buildings spread across the plateau, their flat rooftops and the roadways between arranged in careful symmetry. The nine Halls of the Guardian Orders stood out distinctly, each one its own walled compound with manicured lawns and training yards within.

  To the plateau’s left, on the western side, lay the cloud stairs, marching steadily down toward the Upper City.

  The distant blue of the river marked the western edge of things. He couldn’t see where it fell into the Rift basin from here, but he remembered the thundering roar those falls made. However, from this vantage he could see the northern ridge of mountains that ringed the Upper City. This great mountain they stood upon seemed to mark the southern tip of that ridge.

  Kar let out a slow breath. A view like this was enough to make a person forget how broken the world really was.

  “Ready?” Granna asked.

  He turned from the vista and nodded.

  Isa leaned against the railing beside him, watching the clouds drifting past the mountain’s lower slopes. She looked calmer now than she had all morning.

  Erio and Tharn fell into step behind them as they started down the winding path.

  None of them spoke for a while, absorbing the low hubbub of daily life in the surrounding Enclave.

  They descended various terraces until they reached the main path leading to the entrance of the Enclave compound. Natalie was waiting there with the two Guardians assigned to escort her down the mountain and to the Rift Bridge.

  She stood near the stone archway with her hands folded loosely in front of her. The metal restraints had been removed, though the guards remained close.

  Nat’s eyes lifted as they approached, and Kar felt a tightening in his chest.

  For a moment, it looked like she might say something sharp again. Instead she simply nodded.

  “I was starting to wonder if you were coming to see me off or not,” she said.

  Isa hurried forward and wrapped her arms around Nat before anyone else could speak.

  Nat smiled warmly and returned the hug.

  “My sweet girl,” she said softly. “I’m going to miss you so much. I was looking forward to getting to be with you again.”

  Isa squeezed her eyes together tightly and started crying softly.

  A sick feeling churned in Kar’s gut. Had he made a mistake? It was too late to take it back now.

  Granna cleared her throat loudly.

  “Who’s hungry? I say we have something to eat before anyone tries to tackle more stairs.”

  Kar blinked.

  “Eat?”

  “Yes. Eat. Do you have wool in your ears?”

  She gestured toward a shaded patch of grass beside the stone road that curved toward the cloud steps. A few figures had gathered there and were setting out what looked to be a picnic.

  Granna led them over, while Erio and Tharn stepped aside to join the guards on duty by the gate.

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  Where the picnic had been set up, Kar was surprised to see Natalie overcome by emotion as she was greeted by those awaiting them there. They treated her like… family.

  He noticed then the sigils on all their robes. They matched the one on Granna’s—interlocking white spirals on a patch of gold.

  “Get over here and meet the rest of the Asenias, Kar,” Granna barked. “There’s not many of us left, so no excuses if you forget names.”

  Natalie came back and pulled Isa and Kar along with her, introducing them to one relative after another.

  There were a pair of older women—Granna’s two surviving children—Iralia and Vaeratha. That made them Kar and Isa’s great-aunts. Iralia had a kind smile, while Vaeratha was much more stern. She softened when talking to Natalie and Isa, but was curt toward Kar.

  Another woman, a little younger than Natalie, wrapped them all in big hugs.

  “It’s so good to see you! I know you kids won’t remember me, but your mother and I were so close.”

  She grabbed hold of Natalie and held her at arm’s length before wrapping her in another embrace, tears flowing down her face.

  “Oh, how I’ve missed you, Nat. You won’t be going far, will you?”

  “I… plan to stay in Rift Guild territory,” Natalie answered, dabbing at her own teary eyes.

  “Oh, that’s not so bad! I’ll make Baric bring us across the bridge so we can visit.”

  That name sounded familiar…

  “How is my little brother?” Natalie asked hesitantly.

  “I’m doing fine,” a deep voice called from the road behind them.

  Natalie and the rest of them turned together to find a broad-chested man, a young boy around twelve at his side, and a slightly younger girl riding on the man’s shoulders.

  Natalie gave a little shriek and ran over to Baric. He set the girl down just before Nat jumped into his arms and wrapped herself around him.

  He had a booming laugh that stretched the burn marks running down his face and neck. A memory surfaced—Baric, younger, his face unmarked—and Kar felt the weight of what his father had done.

  “Uncle Baric…” he whispered.

  Granna pushed him and Isa forward, and Baric released Nat, then stepped over to meet them. For all his scars, he smiled gently, taking first Isa’s hand in his before pulling her in for a hug.

  “You weren’t even crawling when I saw you last,” he told her.

  “Do you remember me?” Baric asked Kar, smiling at him in that same soft way.

  Kar nodded, overcome with feeling.

  “I do.”

  “Well get over here then,” Baric said with a grin, stretching out one arm.

  Kar stumbled into the embrace, surprised and pleased to feel small next to his uncle.

  “I’m so happy you’ve come back to us. We have so much to catch up on. Here—meet your cousins.”

  He spun Isa and Kar around toward the two children he had brought with him.

  “This is Aelan,” Baric said. The boy stepped forward shyly. “And this is Elia.”

  Elia hid partially behind her older brother as they walked forward together for the introduction.

  Isa immediately surged forward and wrapped them both in a hug.

  Kar saw himself in Aelan. The scrawny build at that age was familiar, though nowhere near as sickly as Kar had always been growing up in Riftwater.

  He greeted them both, then had to stop to wipe moisture from his eyes.

  “Let’s eat!” Granna called, waving them all over to the baskets and blankets that had been laid out in the shade.

  Kar ate sparingly, soaking in the presence of everyone here. He tried to mortar their names in his mind. Althira—his youngest aunt—was Baric’s wife. He had no memory of her, but learned that was because they hadn’t been married when Nat took Kar and Isa away.

  “So, is this everyone? Or are there others who couldn’t make it?” Isa asked.

  Baric cleared his throat.

  “This is all of us, other than Rath… they don’t let him out of the tower.”

  Kar blinked slowly. He’d wondered if his father still lived or not, but had assumed he didn’t. No one else had mentioned him since they’d come to the Upper City.

  “I… should have gone to see him. Before I left,” Nat said, pained.

  “It wouldn’t make a difference,” Althira said bitterly, grabbing hold tightly of Baric’s arm.

  Baric patted, then rubbed her arm gently before smiling sadly at Nat.

  “I go to visit when I can. Most days he doesn’t recognize me. When he does, he still thinks I’m an imposter.”

  “It’s not likely my grandson will ever improve,” Granna said gruffly, sniffling.

  Looking at her, Kar saw the first sign of vulnerability he’d seen yet in the old woman.

  The rest of their time together passed far too quickly. Kar found it more and more difficult to look at Natalie, seeing how close she was to their family here. He hadn’t realized…

  Soon enough the guards approached, bowing low to Granna.

  “High Elder, we’ll need to leave now to make it to the Bridge before nightfall.”

  Natalie shared tearful goodbyes with them all.

  “Come visit when you can, please. I’d love to catch up with you all—unrushed. I’ll send a message when I’m settled.”

  “Of course we will,” Althira told her.

  Baric wrapped his older sister in one last embrace, picking her up and twirling her around once before setting her back down on her feet.

  “Take care, Nata. I’ll be checking in on this Aldwin fellow when we come to visit.”

  Nat stepped away, half laughing, half crying.

  “I’ve got to get back to my shift,” Baric said to them all. “When you get back—” he added, looking pointedly at Kar—“we’ll talk more.”

  “Shift?” Isa asked as Baric strode away along the mountain path.

  “Hmm. Baric and I take turns watching over the Seal,” Granna supplied.

  “Just the two of you?” Kar asked sharply.

  Granna snorted.

  “We’re just watching the entrance. We sealed that off after what happened with your father. No one’s been inside the Source Chamber in over fifteen years.”

  “Oh,” Kar replied, feeling stupid. “So Nat—”

  “Would have only been watching at the door too,” Natalie finished, now at Kar’s side. “Changes things, knowing all the facts, huh?”

  Kar’s face flushed hot.

  “There was no time… I—”

  “You could have trusted in me… in your Granna,” Nat said softly, almost accusingly.

  She laid an arm on his right shoulder. Even through the seal, his dark arm quivered.

  Kar reached over with his right hand to grab hold of the stump of his left wrist to quiet it.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

  Nat looked at him for a long moment.

  “Me too.”