Cindral’s gaze sharpens. “You always were eager to prove yourself. Especially to me.”
“I was naïve.” I shift. “I’m not anymore.”
He finally lifts his hands. Luminth blooms from his palm, smooth, practiced and beautiful. He shapes it into a long blade exactly like my father would, bright and humming with lethal intent.
Predictable. He’s sopredictable. If I know anything about him, it’s how desperately he wants to be like my father. We circle each other slowly, boots crunching.
“Tell me,” Cindral murmurs. “What happened to your grand purpose, Lyra? The vows you made to Commander Vaelion? To Solvandyr?”
He tilts his head. “Did Kaelen Duskbane fuck you into failure? Always so desperate for attention.”
My lips curl. “Kaelen doesn’t have to seduce anyone to make them see whatyouare. You showed me that yourself.”
Cindral’s eyes flash. “Careful.”
“Or what?” I taunt. “You’ll punish me? That seems to have worked out well so far.”
I lean in. “You’re still under his thumb, Cindral. You’re under him so tightly that I can see his thumbprint in your head. But I’m free of him, and free of you, and you can’tstandit.”
His jaw tightens, and I see the first crack of emotion. “Whoring yourself to the Darkwielders doesn’t make you free.”
“Oh?” I tilt my head. “But they’re so very good at it.”
“You were trained to obey,” his voice rises along with his anger. “You’re nothing but a broken experiment.”
“I was trained to kill,” I say, my voice steady. “And you and he taught me more than enough about that.”
Our blades meet with a violent clash of light, sparks scattering across the snow. Cindral is strong. Far stronger than Iliria, my father’s deputy for a reason. He thrusts high and I twist to the side, letting the blade skim past my cheek. Countering, I aim low, going for the muscle behind his knee. He blocks, barely, and the force of it makes his shoulders tense.
Cindral attacks again with a rapid series of strikes meant to overwhelm me. I parry and retreat two steps, letting him think he’s pressing me back. He smirks, confidence rising. “Still fast. Still so pretty when you fight.”
My stomach lurches with disgust, and I show a little to him. Just enough to feed his arrogance. “You talk too much.”
Cindral grins. “You always liked my voice.”
My laugh is sharp. “I preferred it when you shut the fuck up.”
His eyes flash, and that fraction of distraction is all I need. Dropping my left blade, I shape a whip of luminth. Thin, flexible and fast. Snapping it around his wrist mid-swing, I tug.
When his stance breaks, Cindral knocked off balance, I surge forward and drive my remaining luminth blade into his side. The scent of burning metal fills the air.
Cindral hisses. His hand flies to the scorched line across his pristine, perfect armor. “You—”
“You underestimated me,” I snarl, and I twist the whip, pulling his arm off-line again as he tries to counter. “The only way you could ever win was to force me.”
He recovers quickly. Luminth flares from his free palm, blasting toward my face as I throw up a shield. The blast hits and cracks it, heat jolting my arms. He uses the moment to close the distance between us, his blade sweeping toward my throat. Heat singes my hair as I duck and slam my elbow into his injured side, pulling a grunt from his throat.
Cindral steps back, breathing hard now.
“You could have had everything,” he roars across the clearing at me. “And you’re throwing it away, Lyra!”
“Remind me how many soldiers are in a Darkwielder unit—”
He bellows something wordless, flinging a dagger at me that I dodge easily. “Sloppy. Vaelion would be so disappointed in you.”
The dagger that I throw back buries itself in his arm. Cindral’s luminth flares violently, unstable. He lunges with a brutal overhead strike, putting everything he has into it. Stepping aside at the last second, I let his blade bury itself in the ground, the momentum pulling him forward and off-balance.
Then I flick my palm. A tiny, sharp spike of luminth forms and punches through the strap that holds Cindral’s shoulder plate. Tipping, it exposes the gap beneath his arm. My blade slams directly through it.
