Chapter 29

Evie rides through Hickory Forest with Trystan, Clare, Tatianna, and Kingsley, quickly realizing she has overestimated her ability to travel by horse. Clare advises her to use her core strength, while Trystan notices Evie looks exhausted and stops to ask why she did not sleep.

Evie deflects by teasing Trystan about the excessive pillows on his bed, prompting Clare and Tatianna to reveal that he had the same odd habit as a child. Their joking exposes a small inconsistency when Clare mentions four childhood spies, though only Clare, Tatianna, and Malcolm are named; Clare nervously corrects herself, and Evie notices Clare's glance toward Kingsley but chooses not to press.

Evie shifts the conversation to Heart Village, the neutral settlement at the border of Rennedawn and Kaliora. While thinking about Helena's letters, her lost home, and her mother, Evie becomes distracted by the tingling scar on her shoulder and the dagger beneath her skirt, then realizes too late that Trystan has been explaining a plan: Evie is meant to act as bait for the bridge creatures guarding the entrance.

At the bridge, Trystan explains that Evie is clever and charming enough to solve the entry riddle and persuade the creatures to let them cross despite Trystan's poor history with them. Evie dismounts with Trystan's help, but after smelling a magical flower she plucked from a branch, Evie becomes dizzy, giddy, and disoriented.

When Evie casually calls Trystan by his first name, he realizes something is wrong. Clare identifies the flower as a Piony, whose scent intoxicates anyone who inhales it, meaning Evie is drunk and no longer useful for their negotiation. Trystan tries to lead Evie away before the bridge creatures notice them, but a gritty voice calls out to him, making it clear they have already been seen.