Chapter 62

Veya travels with Noeve across the treacherous Path of Daes in harsh winter conditions, having left Gore over a hundred phases ago. She reveals she returned to retrieve a velvet trogg—a bangle—that she discarded down a rubbish chute, which she believes is essential to finding Elluin's diary and may be connected to a mysterious gap in her memory.

Veya rides in Noeve's cart across the Path of Daes, a narrow, cliff-lined route through The Fade's snow and brutal winds. Eight aurora cycles of traveling with Zekhi have left her unprepared for the cold and danger of the crossing. Noeve, an ancient fae cartwright unfazed by weather or peril, remarks that Veya is out of practice and shares that she has stopped smuggling people out of the city after the Queen attempted to stall an execution—a public act that drew Cadok's attention and has apparently silenced contact between them. Veya confirms her intention to eventually kill her brother Cadok in combat. When Noeve questions why Veya has returned to the region after over a hundred phases, Veya initially claims she left something important in Gore but later reveals the truth: she discarded a velvet trogg down the rubbish chutes and needs to retrieve it from a trogg who collected it. The trogg is known to be obsessed with jewelry. Veya explains the bangle is crucial to locating Elluin's diary and may be connected to a mysterious blank span of thirty aurora cycles missing from her memory. She paid for a return trip and jokes that if she dies retrieving it, Noeve should keep the extra payment and use it for cart seat padding.