Jasmine chose the nursery for the conversation, the same room where she'd first heard the twins' voices before either had drawn breath, the same window where she'd once watched an entire alliance train in the courtyard below. It felt fitting, somehow, to have this conversation in the one room that had witnessed nearly every important moment of their family's history.

"There's something we need to talk about," she said, sitting cross-legged on the floor across from where Elara and Ronan sat, both children old enough now to recognize the particular gravity in her tone despite her efforts to keep it gentle. Outside the window, the ordinary sounds of the fortress...