That evening,I stand before my mirror in my bedroom, the blush of a pink and orange sunset lighting the room. Eyeing the length of my freshly donned gown, I shift side to side to see if any of my movements reveal the weapons I’ve concealed. My obsidian dagger is strapped to my thigh while an assortment of iron blades—the few I didn’t melt—circle my waist.
The dress I wear is a deep red, another one of Amelie’s designs. It covers my front and back from my neck to my ankles but remains open at the sides and is tied loosely at the waist. The dagger belts at my thigh and waist are covered by the design of the dress while still providing easy access for me to reach. I practice a few times, sliding my hand behind my back to retrieve an iron dagger from beneath the dress, then unsheathing my obsidian blade from my thigh.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Amelie appears reflected in the mirror, coming up behind me as she wrings her hands. It’s the third time she’s asked since I came to add new commands that hinted at the need for travel.
I turn to face her, returning my weapons to their hidden sheaths. “I’ll tell you when you need to know. If ever.”
Her eyes are locked on my gown, as if seeking the invisible blades beneath it. “I’m worried about you,” she whispers. “Whatever you’re about to do…”
“Worry about yourself,” I snap, turning away from her and moving to the bed where I stuff a few necessities into a bag.
“I’m worried about myself too,” she says, following me. “You aren’t…you aren’t giving me back tohim, are you? Please don’t do this. Not unless you can guarantee me the means to kill him.”
I pause and meet her eyes, surprised at the terror on her face. “That’s not what we’re doing.”
“Then what is it?”
I ignore her and return to packing my bag. The Alpha Alliance will be meeting with the Renounced at midday tomorrow on the border between Fire and Solar. Fehr is in the process of allocating the best candidates to pull the coach Ustrin left behind so we can leave at once. My heart sinks at the thought of leaving the palace overnight, especially when Aspen’s household and my own just arrived. However, we want to set up a proper camp and scope out the meeting place well in advance of the Renounced arriving. At least I trust the palace will be protected by Fehr, and the Parvanovae will remain inaccessible to anyone.
“Where’s your bag?” I ask without looking at my sister.
With a sigh, she retrieves it from the sitting area, then places it on the bed next to mine. “Please.” Her voice comes out with a stifled sob, stealing my attention to the anguish on her face. “Please tell me what’s about to happen. I’m going out of my mind wondering if this is the end for me. If it is, just—”
“It’s a meeting,” I say through my teeth.
She furrows her brow. “What do you mean?”
I clench my jaw, hands on my hips as I shake my head in irritation. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
“If you’re taking me too, it must have something to do with me.”
I narrow my eyes. “Amelie, not everything is about you. I’m taking you because we won’t be back by morning, perhaps not even by tomorrow night. It could take days to come to an agreement.”
Her shoulders sag, relief ironing out the furrows on her brow. Then her gaze turns suspicious. “What’s the meeting about?”
“What is it you don’t understand? I don’t have to explain a damn thing—”
“You can trust me, Evie. I’ve done nothing to show otherwise since I’ve returned to you.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, a fiery rage flooding my veins. While she may be right, nothing will make up for what she’s done. Still, there’s that part of me that I hate to recognize. The part that softens with every day that goes by, the part that sees the sister she used to be. I let out a grumbling sigh. “We’re meeting to establish a ceasefire.”
“With whom?”
“Who do you think? With the Renounced.”
Rage ignites on her face, transforming it in an instant. “You can’t!”
I take a forbidding step toward her. “Is that so? Are you in any position to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
Angry tears glaze her eyes. “The Renounced are our enemies. Cobalt is our enemy, and you promised me I could kill him.”
“The ceasefire is temporary, only until we can defeat the human army that comes our way.”
She doesn’t seem surprised by this latter part, which tells me she’s already heard about the oncoming threat. I’m sure I have Foxglove or Lorelei to thank for that. She throws her hands in the air and turns her back to me. When she speaks, her voice comes out quiet. “Every day Cobalt lives is like a knife twisting in my heart. Not to mention what the ghost of his commands do to my mind.”
My heart squeezes, a lump rising in my throat at her anguish. I find my walls unraveling around me, and I shudder at how vulnerable it makes me feel. How weak and small. “We will kill him, Ami.”
She slowly turns to face me again. “You won’t make me see him, will you?”
