Aurora POV

I brought Ayda's diary to Sloane the next morning.

I hadn't planned to. I'd been keeping it close, reading it over and over, trying to understand my mother's life. But the questions about Helen wouldn't leave me alone.

And Sloane had known Ayda better than anyone.

I found her in the training hall. She was working through forms with a group of young fire mages. Her movements were sharp and precise. Controlled.

She saw me standing in the doorway and dismissed the class ...