My head snaps up, my words harsh in the otherwise hushed room. “You willnot.”
Not again. Once—just once, long ago—I’d hoped. I’d allowed a persuasive Reena to go to him, to request a change to the plan that has shaped my entire life. We were young enough, foolhardy enough, to embrace the possibility. Idealistic and innocent and foolish beyond measure in the way that only children can be.
Reena still bears the scars against her spine.
Mine are long gone, of course. But the lesson was learned, nonetheless.
Reena swallows. “If things were different…if I was in charge, I would have stopped it. All of it. You deserved more than this.”
I drop my eyes again. It’s easier that way. Easier to speak to her. And easier to remember our roles. “This is what I was born to do. And I’m proud to serve Solvandyr.”
“Horseshit,” my sister snaps. “Don’t give me what you givethem.”
I stare at the ground. It threatens to blur before I blink. “If that isn’t true, then what’s the point of any of it?”
What’s the point of me?
It has to be true. Itistrue.
Our eyes lock when I look up once more. Gold meets gold, mirrored flecks of shimmering molten metal with the familiaramber ring of flame. Like looking into a fire. We could be twins, she and I. Our features are similar at first glance, if only in the way all Lightbringers are. High cheekbones, a strong brow, an almost hawkish nose that had irritated those around me for reasons I didn’t understand at the time. Although I stand slightly taller, my hair tightly braided back into a length that brushes my lower back, while hers is cropped close to her skull in the same military cut every other Lightbringer wears.
The differences between us only stretch wider from there.
She belongs here. I was never intended to.
Very melodramatic today, Lyra.
When the shimmer in her eyes clears, I pull myself together. Offer my sister a small smile, and a bow, leaning forward at the waist and pressing my right fist against my heart, even as it tightens and constricts. “You’ll make a wonderful Commander, you know.”
My older sister, fierce and brave and every inch the Commander’s heiroutsideof this room throws her arms around me, squeezing until my palms raise gingerly, uncertainly, to press against her back.
She’s never done that before.
Reena’s words are muffled, spoken into my shoulder, but I feel every one like a blade. “Be swift, Lyra. And come home safely. Promise me. Once it’s done, things will be different.”
I keep my smile in place as she pulls back. After years of secrecy, I won’t ruin our last moments with unwelcome news. “Let us hope so.”
She’s right about one thing. Once it’s done, my mission completed, thingswillbe different. Everything will change.
The war will be done.
Reena will be free.
And so will I.
She swipes at her eyes before we both stiffen. Muffled steps echo distantly beyond the closed door. They grow in sound as someone approaches the very top of the Sunspire, and we exchange identical panicked looks.
When the door swings open, Reena’s hand is gripping my chin so tightly I can already feel the dampness of my own blood as it trickles down my neck.
Harder, I will her silently.Make him believe it.
As if she can hear me, her nails dig deeper. Reena leans in, her face twisted. “You will not fail Solvandyr. Youwillremember your orders.”
You’ll come back.
I meet her gaze. “I will not fail you.”
I love you.
