Chapter 48

Mara's POV

I wanted to burn Severin’s message.
Soren asked me to keep the original in case it helped us find him.
I burned a copy instead. It helped slightly.

Vivian asked to speak with me after breakfast. Maeve limited the conversation to 15 minutes and remained close enough to intervene if either of us became unreasonable.

Given our history, that was fair.

Vivian sat beside the infirmary window with a blanket around her shoulders. The founder circle was no longer visible on her stomach, but I could feel it whenever I came within several feet.

"I remembered something last night," she said.

"That sentence has not been kind to me recently."

"I know."

She folded her hands over the blan