Chapter 46

Mara's POV

My mother closed the archive door behind us. The latch clicked quietly, but after what the Custodian had said in the corridor, I couldn't bear the sound of one more door shutting out information I needed.

Ronan stood near the shelves. Soren had brought a stack of old papers and set them on the table. They both looked at Elara, waiting for her to begin. I had waited twenty-three years to speak to my mother without anyone else in the room, and somehow we had ended up here instead.

“Why did those people know you?” I asked.

Elara pulled out a chair but didn't sit. “Alden and I went to them when we learned what Severin was doing with the Vale oath. We thought they would help us stop him. They tried to kill Alden and keep me in their tower.”

I had known she was imprisoned. I had not known she ha