It had been several days since they finalized their preparation plans to reach Seraveth, and all that remained was the remaining length of the Accord. The men of the expedition group were away loading crates of supplies onto the ship, and after helping her share, Naomi took the opportunity to slip away to collect her own thoughts. She found herself wandering into Calypsa's grand library, surrounded by leather-bound books stacked in shelves that spanned the height of the ceiling. It was a rarity now for her to be alone due to their connection - though it helped her appreciate the comfort and safety she felt when Cassien was with her. Without his presence, she often found herself glancing at her side as if he were right beside her, or catching herself about to speak aloud to no one but the air.

After some time of searching, she settled for several books of Seraveth's history and Lunare's fall as a means of preparing herself for the trip. Time passed quickly as her brain refreshed itself with knowledge, when a sudden gust of wind manifested beside her. Naomi turned to find herself face to face with their new roguish acquaintance, but not before letting out a high-pitched yelp, her hands flaring with radiance and ready to fire.

Darius held his hands up in surrender. "It's just me!"

Her heart hammered wildly as she dissipated her magic, pressing a hand against her chest to steady herself. "You can't just sneak up on people like that! Is this a regular habit of yours?"

"Well it was, but just this moment I've decided to reform my scoundrel ways after almost being blasted into a million pieces," he joked in his smooth accent.

The adrenaline in her veins began to die down. "Was there something you needed?"

Darius inclined his head slightly, his angular face sharpened by the shadows of the room. "Yes, actually. I wanted to talk about this psychic power shared between yourself and the duke."

Naomi tilted her head. "What about it?"

"From the information I've gathered so far, I can only assume Alistair received his powers from the shard breaking."

"That's what we've inferred as well, but I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're getting at," she said slowly.

Darius pulled up his own seat, turning it so that he sat with his front against the back of the chair. "So, you don't think it's peculiar that on the same night your connection was established, the king's powers suddenly manifested?"

"Well, it's clear now that his goal from the first place was to destroy the shard. I don't know if it had to involve the two of us in particular or we were just caught between it - but obviously it worked."

"But it didn't," Darius's eyes glinted. "At least, not in the way he expected."

He reached for her stack of books, trailing a finger down each spine before stopping at one detailing the history of their former goddess and the Conquest that followed. Darius thumbed through it quickly, eyes flitting through the book's contents faster than Naomi could even comprehend. He stopped abruptly, pointing down at an image of the original half-broken Moonshard.

"There's a reason why even if someone had found the Moonshard prior to all of this happening-" he waved his hand dramatically around the room. "-it wouldn't have mattered, because they wouldn't have been able to break it."

Naomi nodded in agreement, thinking back to how Alistair had struck it upon his arrival in Tudor, and how even her own magic hadn't been able to break it as a test of authenticity.

Darius continued as he flipped through the pages, pointing out finer texts that she hadn't bothered to focus on. "When the original Pillars of Magic - five humans who pretty much screwed us all over - stole Lunare's second eye, the stories say that they fought over who could break it to absorb its power. Only individuals possessing magical powers could destabilize the shard, making it vulnerable enough to fracture in the first place."

"Of course, the idiots messed something up because they only broke half of the original eye, and the other half flew into our earth, never to be seen again. Until Alistair showed up, needing two magical persons to touch it."

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Darius looked at her intensely, as if he were waiting for her to connect the pieces. For a moment, Naomi said nothing as she sifted through the memories of that night and his words. Her and Cassien had discussed this previously, but they always had assumed that their tether had simply been collateral - an unexpected affliction - due to their proximity to the exploding shard. But if all of this had been orchestrated by Alistair only for his plan to have gone off-course, leading to what they had now… There was something she was blatantly missing; why else would Darius bring up their connection?

Realization shot through her like a bolt of lightning. "Not every bit of power got absorbed by him; Cassien and I must've taken some of it since we were holding the shard."

"Bingo," Darius pointed a finger at her. "The Seravethian king is missing just the last fraction of the shard's precious magic, tied up in a neat package of two."

"So you think he's going to come after the two of us?"

"I'll get to that. But if he's half the egotistical maniac we think he is, he'll do anything to get his hands on you both."

Her brows furrowed deeply, pink lips pursing with skepticism. "How do you even know all of this? I find it very hard to believe you've just put this all together in the span of a few days of being here."

Darius laughed in a rich sound as he ran his hand through his hair, swooping back his black-white streaked curls. "Come on, Miss Rosenthorn. Did you really think Aryn sat around twiddling his thumbs while he babysat a bunch of nobles in their meetings all season long, while his twin sister laid in a coma because of that prick? I've been involved from the get-go, sniffing out every bit of information in every crevice of the Earth, including Redgorn."

Naomi didn't speak her thoughts out loud, but despite Darius's nonchalant demeanor, he certainly deserved credit for figuring everything out. "You've already been to the city?"

He leaned forward in his seat, balancing the chair on two legs. "You'll learn two things about me very quickly: one, I case everything before I even consider making an appearance. Two, I'm a very good listener. I didn't make it inside the castle walls, but let's just say that King Seraveth is a bit of a blab."

He leaned in, voice lowering slightly. "I heard enough to know that he expects you and Cassien to show up at some point. Don't ask me how - I couldn't figure that out myself. But despite whatever plan we made, we need to be ready for him to appear at any time."

Naomi stared at him as she started to rise from her seat to search for Cassien. "And you didn't think to mention this before? Why wait until now?"

Darius's hand caught hers, tugging her back down. "I can explain why. Let me finish."

"Fine," Naomi pulled her hand away quickly, seating herself. "But your reasoning better be good."

He landed on the back legs of the chair with a quiet thud. "No offense, but the duke isn't the most compliant person. But if we want to avoid turning the city into an active war zone and keep things as discreet as possible, then I believe the best plan would be to draw him out on our own terms. From what I've gathered, his power is unrivaled. It makes sense, given he essentially absorbed the shard's magic almost solely for himself."

"So you want to use me as bait," Naomi mumbled.

He gave her an apologetic shrug. "Essentially, yes. But since you're assuming the most danger as the centrepiece of this plan, it was only right that I talk to you first about it."

"And when would we share this with the rest of the team?"

"The plan would be to have you reveal your presence during the first few days, coming with me under the guise of needing a second hand with recon. Once you begin to lure Alistair to a more remote area - which I have an idea of - that's when I'll spring it on the group."

Naomi shook her head. "I don't understand why we need to keep this hidden from everyone."

"Miss Rosenthorn, I can tell you're a discernible woman - you don't need me to explain to you why."

Darius was right that this posed the least amount of risk to everyone - both to the group and innocent civilians in the city that might be caught otherwise. Not to mention, if Alistair was already on alert, an infiltration plan could be ruined before it even began, with Redgorn's entire fleet of guards readied. Now, it was a matter of whether she could bear the guilt of hiding this knowledge from Cassien.

Naomi pictured his face at the suggestion of putting herself in the line of fire without his knowledge, and her heart twisted. They'd come so far on trust and honesty, and now here she was, considering to do the very opposite. Part of her longed to tell him everything immediately, but she knew that he would never accept it.

But the hope that she alone could spare him and everyone else from so much risk even at the detriment of herself… Naomi knew that if given the advantage of striking Alistair in an ambush, Cassien and the others would have no problem matching his power, no matter how immense his powers had gotten since.

Naomi stayed silent for a long time, though Darius made no attempt to rush her. Finally, when she spoke, her voice was low and hesitant. "I'll need time to think about it."

Darius simply nodded. "You can give me your answer once we've arrived in Redgorn. But again, it's best if you didn't mention this to anyone to avoid complicating matters. If your answer is no, then we'll pretend this conversation never happened."

She merely nodded, her ashy golden hair covering her expression. Darius snapped his fingers, disappearing in a plume of shadow and leaving Naomi alone with her doubt. Guilt gnawed at her for even contemplating hiding such a secret plot from Cassien, but there was a faint hope as well; if she alone could carry the burden to spare everyone else from a more destructive clash, she was all the more willing to do it.

Naomi could only hope Cassien would forgive her.

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