“For tackling my brother,the prince, to the ground and, for not yelling for the guards when you saw my face. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if they were going to let you Ascend after you did that.”
“They figured the Gods would kill me for my transgression, and I figured you were running from something bad.” She leant in and lowered her voice. “Though I do have questions about why you stabbed the priest.
“I don’t know how to repay you,” I replied, ignoring her question.
“Just survive.”
Somehow that statement felt easier said than done, I hadn’t really considered what surviving would entail.
Find the pieces.
The whisper wracked through me; I stumbled on the step and my breath caught. Dreya shot me a questioning look as I gripped the wrought iron railing, but she didn’t say anything. I was grateful for that.
By the time we reached the fifth floor, my legs felt unsteady, and my heartbeat seemed to pound in my ears.
We followed Orin into a wide hallway that seemed to breathe darkness. Arched wooden doors carved into the stone on both sides. The torches sputtered as though choking on their own smoke, their frail light birthing shadows that writhed along the walls like starving fingers reachingfor flesh.
Tingling stretched over my neck as though I was being watched.
My eyes were pulled to the winding staircase looming above me that seemed to vanish into darkness so thick that I couldn’t see through it.
Faint voices drifted through the inky void from below. The darkness shifted, and I struggled to focus, as though something unseen had just moved.
“Are you coming?”
I jumped at Dreya’s voice, not realising the rest of my squad had gone further down the hallway.
“Yes,” I muttered and followed her.
Orin opened the first door on the right and stood aside, gesturing us to enter.
“Welcome to your new home,” he said dryly.
“All of us?” a flaxen-haired woman who stood two feet taller than me questioned.
“Shared bunks build camaraderie,” Orin replied in a clipped tone. I didn’t remember him being this clipped. But, if anyone understood how time could change someone, it was me. Casting one last glance at the spiral staircase, I followed the others into the room. But something, or someone, was watching me.
A large, windowless room greeted me, seven beds evenly spaced apart.
The air was thick with mildew and woodsmoke from a dim fire flickering in the open hearth.
The sheets looked rough and threadbare, the walls veiled in cobwebs, and a wooden door set into the stone led to what I assumed was a shared washroom.
I had expected luxury, but standing in the dim light, surrounded by such stark simplicity, a quiet shame crept over me.
I had been wrapped in comfort my whole life and this was a stark comparison to what I was used to.
“This is Bohdi. First Squad’s corporal, my second in command.”
The man with dark-blond hair loosely tied back with a few strands escaping to frame his sun-kissed face who had walked with us. His eyes were a deep blue; the colour I imagined the sky would be beneath the clouds that cursed our skies. I wouldn’t know though, because I had never seen it. He felt bright and warm, his soft smile radiated compassion as he lifted his hand in a small wave.
“Welcome to First Squad. It is my job to look after you, help you survive the first year. After that, you will be incorporated into the Army of Iron. I know how hard the adjustment can be to military life, so if any of you need to talk, I am here for you.”
A strange feeling of peace washed through me, tension dripping from my shoulders like wax from a melting candle.
“Stop using your Sanctum on them!” Orin snapped, hitting Bohdi across the shoulder with the back of his hand.
The peaceful feeling eroded as quickly as it had settled on me, the hard reality of fear, uncertainty and the weight of my decisions came crashing back with such vengeance it took my breath away.
