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I shook my head. It was a good suggestion, but neither of those options worked for me because they involved me leaving Bryn. I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight for a second. I ran my hands through my hair and tried to think of something else I could do to stop obsessing so much over Bryn’s well-being.

And then a thought occurred to me. I hadn’t talked to the Kings’ elders about the children who’d disappeared. Now was the perfect opportunity to ask them what they remembered. It wasn’t the happiest of topics to bring up, but the questions I had about the disappearances were relevant enough to hold my interest.

I took a few calming breaths, then walked over to them. They were talking to Elder Woods about something. Whatever it was had their full attention, but when they noticed me nearing them, they stopped talking. I might have found that suspicious under different circumstances, but I didn’t care.

“I have a few questions for you three,” I said.

“Yes?” Elder Queene asked.

“Do you