“What if this is what I need to do for us to succeed, and I’m not, because we’re being so cautious?” Her words were softer than she expected, nearly pleading.
“What we need to do to succeed is keep the sword safe.”
“And if we know what the Knights are doing, then—”
“I don’t want to see you risking your life. I can’t live with that knowledge,” he added, softer. Vi hated his tenderness and how it quelled her frustrated anger.
“Hello.” Deneya waved, drawing both of their attention. “Yes, hi, I’m still here.” She smiled broadly. “How about this? If you can’t go for… whatever reasons the Voice has, I’ll go in your stead? I’ll just keep watching them as I have.”
“A fine suggestion,” Taavin said. He had yet to release Vi’s hand.
Both eyes were on her. Vi bit the insides of her cheeks, but finally said, “Fine, go now… and let me know what happens.”
“They’ll be none the wiser, I promise!Wein!” Deneya dashed through the flames, gone as quickly as she’d come.
Vi stared at the fire, her hand still in Taavin’s. When he finally released it, it fell limply at her side.
“What is my purpose here?” she whispered.
“To protect the Crystal Caverns.”
“Is it?” Vi spun, rounding on him. Fire was alive in her, burning down her arms, cracking into life around her knuckles. “Or am I just a vessel shepherding us into another repeat of the world’s end?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you must let me act. The Knights of Jadar are gaining strength while I help Fiera pick out flowers for the Cathedral of the Sun and minstrels for the reception. They are going to act against my family for generations. They willkill herif I don’t stop them.”
“Your only focus should be the sword,” Taavin reminded her gravely. “What happens to everyone else—Fiera, Zira, Tiberus—is not your concern.”
“They are my family!”
“Your family is gone and will never come back!”
The words echoed through her ears; Vi staggered back. She swayed, but righted herself. A buzzing sound vibrated her brain and the world blurred for a moment, tilting in a sickening way. He’d only spoken the truth, a truth she’d known. Why did it hurt so much?
“Vi, I’m sorry,” Taavin said hastily.
“No,” Vi whispered. “You’re right.” She forced a smile, but felt her cheeks curve into what was certainly more of a snarl. “My family is gone, and I’m clearly a fool for caring about these people.”
“That’s not—”
“Leave me.” Vi waved her hand and released the glyph. Blissful silence filled the air as Vi was left alone with the sword. She stared at it, wondering how a single object could cause so much pain.
Vi approached the weapon slowly. Her eyes were on the sword, but her mind was on the Knights of Jadar. While she was here, waiting, they were plotting. Everyone else was acting as Vi drifted along.
This feeling was worse than being in bed for a month with autumn fever. Worse than waiting her whole life for her family to retrieve her.
“Nothing good comes of a Solaris with a crystal weapon,” Vi murmured, putting her hand on the scabbard. “You were right, Father.”
She hung her head and felt her eyes burn. Vi took a shaky breath, and then another. She remained like that until her muscles were stiff and her feet ached. She stayed in that tucked-away armory room for so long, the sun was streaming through the windows as she made her way back to her quarters.
There she remained until she was certain she wouldn’t betray Taavin’s trust and run off after Deneya.
Chapter Fourteen
Vi staredout the window at Norin. For months, it had been slowly blossoming before her eyes like a bloom that had been trapped in the permafrost of war now poking through the snow. People were beginning to take to the streets again; the Western militia in its entirety had finally been freed of their confinement.
She was used to looking down at cities. She’d spent the vast majority of her life doing just that as she was kept in the fortress of Soricium. Now, it was Taavin’s caution keeping her here. She was relegated to council meetings, training grounds, and working with the crystal sword in secret, trying to figure out the depths of its power… As Deneya did the real work of keeping track of the Knights of Jadar and their ever-growing strength.
