Piaras started to put me down.

“No, no. Wait.” I sniffed and tried for a smile. “I have something for… Vegard, too. Give him this.” I grabbed both sides of Piaras’s head and planted a big kiss on his forehead, and then hugged him again. That wasn’t just for Vegard, either.

The Guardians behind us snickered.

Piaras blushed to the tips of his pointed ears. “I’ll just tell him about it, if you don’t mind.” He picked up my pack where I’d dropped it to hug him. “I’ll get this.”

“Thank you.” I’d be carrying it myself soon enough, and who knew for how long, so I’d take help now while I could get it.

Every Guardian we passed on our way to the mirror room had somewhere to go and was moving fast. Either that or they were already there and standing guard. To a man, they had one thing in common—the same grim and determined expression. I didn’t know what was behind some of the doors being guarded, but I almost felt sorry for anyone who tried to find out.

I had to move just as fast to keep up with Piaras’s long strides. “After seeing me to the mirror room, what next?”

“Pardon?”

“Your orders. What are they?”

“Once you’re all safely through, I guard that mirror until you come back.”

“Guard?”

“If anyone tries to get into the mirror room who doesn’t belong, they’ll be taking a long nap and waking up in a small cell.”

Piaras could do it; I had no doubt—and neither did any of the hundred or so Guardians he’d accidently put to sleep after he’d been here only a few days. Piaras was a spellsinger, probably the best of his generation. His voice was a deep, rich baritone—and a weapon. As far as magical skills went, spellsinging wasn’t all that rare, but Piaras’s level of skill was. Rare, powerful, and deadly.

I had a thought I didn’t like, but it was a possibility, a very unpleasant one.

“What if someone comes back through our mirror besides us?”