“Good morning, papa!” Gwen kissed his nose lightly. “How are you?”

“I am well, and how is my little princess?” The giant man poked her nose lightly, drawing a giggle from the small girl.

“Good!” she announced. “I would like my breakfast now!”

“It is not ready yet!” Nia remarked.

“It would be if you had helped!” Reona begrudged, putting the top on the pot before carrying it over to the fire.

“Let me assist.” Jax was up on his feet.

“It’s really fine.” Reona glanced skeptically at the Westerner.

“Fair lass,” Jax chuckled, taking the pot from the girl’s hands. “I am a Firebearer, the flames are my brothers and sisters, so they cannot hurt me.” He reached into the fire dramatically and placed the pot on one of the farthest hooks bolted into the inner mantle.

“Oh, I see.” Reona stared dumbly.

Nia giggled next to her, twirling a lock of hair around her fingers. Bringing Jax into a house of young maids was an awful idea.

Vhalla pointedly ignored the Northerners sitting across from her throughout breakfast. She would only have a short time to pretend at normalcy with the Charem family, and Vhalla would savor each fleeting moment she could. Their banter was a momentary escape from the truths that stared Vhalla down.

At one point, Elecia leaned over to Fritz, whispering something in his ear. It made Vhalla realize with a dull ache that she’d lost her magic hearing. She wouldn’t have used it on her friends, but there would never be a chance to use it ever again for anything.

As soon as the meal was finished, Vhalla didn’t have to wonder what was said anymore as Fritz promptly engaged in a quiet conversation with his mother, and Tama began to give marching orders to her brood that conveniently involved all outdoor activities.

Jax stood as the room was clearing. “It looks like all the ladies are headed to the creek to do laundry. I think they may need some extra supervision.”

“Jax, I am not leaving you alone with my sisters!” Fritz hurried out behind him.

It all too conveniently left Vhalla, Aldrik, Za, Sehra, and Elecia at the table. Vhalla turned to her friend, and Elecia arched a dark eyebrow.

“Do you think I’m leaving?” she asked incredulously. “I was the one who cleared the room for this awkward little chat that needs to happen.”

“Thank you for that.” Aldrik took the lead at the head of the table. “We have quite a few things that we need to cover.”

“Indeed.” Sehra showed her intent to participate in the conversation. “Now that your Southern idiocies have unleashed the true strength of the Crystal Caverns.”

Guilt pulled on Vhalla’s shoulders, but she didn’t bother trying to hide or deny the fact. She met the princess’s eyes. “What do you know about the caverns?”

“More than you do.”

“That doesn’t help us.” Vhalla frowned.

“Who says I have any interest in helping you?” Sehra narrowed her eyes. “You had no interest in my deals, in my wisdoms, before. What makes you think my offers still stand for you?”

“Because you don’t have a choice,” Vhalla spoke, silencing the table. “Victor is insane. He plans to make a new world order, built around idolizing sorcery. He’s going to go to any end to achieve it; he’s already demonstrated that much. While you may be magically special, that is not going to exclude the majority of your people from being rearranged to where Victor feels they belong.”

The confident expression slipped off the girl’s lips. Vhalla knew just what button she needed to push. More than anything, the princess was loyal to her home.

“Our best chance is not to divide our strength by allowing a civil war,” Aldrik agreed.

“You want us to stand with Solaris.” Sehra clearly didn’t like the idea.

“You are Solaris.”

Za snorted at Aldrik’s proclamation.

“No one will stand at all if we can’t figure this out.” Vhalla sighed, the table quickly devolving before her eyes. “Sehra, what do you know about what Victor did?”

The princess finally relented. “The man is quite clever; I will grant him that.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. Vhalla briefly saw fear in her eyes and was reminded that the princess was wise beyond her years, but still only a girl. “The artifacts were left by the Goddess, the caverns her point of departure into the other realms. Each artifact connected the caverns across the continent, drawing magic.”

“Why affinities come from different regions,” Vhalla realized. “Each one pulled a different facet of magic.”

“So we believe,” Sehra affirmed. “Our ancestors came from the Crescent Continent, from the lands beyond, seeking shelter because they did not possess the ability to harness magic like the old races. The weapons to build our world and the caverns were the Goddess taking pity upon us.”

“You can’t really believe all this?” Elecia looked to Aldrik.

“Elecia, you are not above being removed from this council.” Aldrik frowned and motioned for Sehra to continue.

“Believe what you will, Southerners,” the princess huffed. “Shaldan has not forgotten our roots to our ancestral lands.”

“So bringing the Achel back to the caverns, and the Crystal Crown, Victor reunited the power and tapped into the font of magic itself in the process?” Vhalla tried to piece together.