Another pulse, another memory.
Arion's voice through the wall: "Everything matters now."
Sian teaching her how to help the water sprites migrate.
Thaine’s expression when he caught her and Eliam throwing snowballs.
Karse, carrying her through the forest on his back when she couldn't walk.
Briar’s eyes fluttered open. “No… you’re wrong…”
"You’re lying to yourself," Shadow-Briar hissed. "The magic making them care. Without it—"
"Without it, Thaine still helped me," Briar said, her voice rough. "Without it, Sian still befriended me. Without it, Halian was still kind."
"Stop—"
"My mother was ill." The words came stronger now and Briar began to push herself upright. "Sadness made her distant. That wasn't about me. That was aboutherpain."
"You're worthless!"
"I saved my sister's life." Briar raised her head, meeting Shadow-Briar's dead eyes. "I worked three jobs to keep my family fed. I survived everything the fae courts threw at me."
"You're a killer!"
Shadow-Briar sounded desperate now and for some reason that gave Briar strength. She got to her hands and knees, muscles trembling from exertion.
"Yes." The admission came easily. "I killed Ferria. I'd probably kill again. But I killed to survive, to protect, not for pleasure."
"You enjoyed—"
"I was surviving." Briar pushed herself up from the floor. "I enjoyed not being helpless. That's human, not monstrous."
Shadow-Briar's face contorted with rage. "You're nothing without the magic—"
"Maybe." Briar stood fully now, facing her shadow self straight on. "But with it? With it, I'm connected to something larger than myself."
"That's not you, that's the power—"
"The power is part of me now." Briar pressed her hand to her chest, feeling the warmth pulse in response. "Twenty-five years, it's been part of me. Changing me, yes. But I'm changing it too. Making it mine."
"You're becoming a monster—"
"No. I'm becoming something new." She took a step toward Shadow-Briar, who actually backed away. "Something that hasn't existed before. Human and fae and something else entirely. And that terrifies you."
"I am you—"
"Yes." Briar saw it clearly now. "You're my fear. My doubt. Everything I'm afraid of becoming. But fear isn't truth. It's just fear."
Shadow-Briar's form flickered, wavered.
"You're losing yourself," she tried one more time. "Everything human about you is dying."
"Everything human about me is transforming." Briar reached out, grabbed Shadow-Briar's wrist. It was solid, cold, real. "And I choose what I become. Not the magic. Not Eliam. Not Malus.Me."
"You can't—"
"I can." She pulled Shadow-Briar closer, until they were face to face. "You're right about one thing. I am becoming something else. But you're wrong about what that means."
