AESIR I WAS NERVOUS. That was an understatement for how I felt at the moment, but I was doing a good job hiding it. When I bolted out of my office, leaving Eva behind to deal with the rest of the piling workload, my initial intention was to find Lani. I was halfway down the bridge over the small stream that ran through the main palace, on my way to Rain’s quarters when I paused to analyze what my plan was, and I realized I had no plan. The intention had been to find her, but then what? What was I going to say to her? Asking her what she meant yesterday when she ended our conversation would’ve made me look stupid. And I realized if Yeger and Eva were right about her, vaguely saying she was giving me a chance, then I should take action, shouldn’t I? I had battled with what to do as I

