Their mortality stunned her—howfasttheir lives ended.
But she’d done what was asked of her.
Kill them,Mother had said moments prior.Show them how powerful you are.
And yet, Marina’s body was rigid as she gaped down at the lifeless mages sleeping in their own blood.
A sharp pain prodded in her chest.
She pressed her palm against her sternum, applying pressure to the constricting of muscles and her loss of breath. Still hidden by the veil of her Night, she assured herself nobody could see her.
The dark fog began melting away, and slivers of the light sliced through.
Show her how powerful you are.
Without Mother’s validation, would she be cast aside like Naia?
Before she’d stepped onto the grounds, her sister was folded on her knees before the mages, trembling and afraid. Mother’s disappointment did not go unnoticed, her lip curled, glaring down at Naia in disgust.
Power was the way to Mother’s heart.
Marina rolled her shoulders back and forced her chin up.
She swallowed the bile snaking up her throat.
This is what Mother wants of me.
Puddles of sunlight swelled through her Night as the last of its blanket dissolved around her.
Don’t show weakness.
Marina exited the grounds and traveled up the moonstone staircase to her parents’ box. Though, she was surprised to find that Mother had already departed.
Dread hardened like a stone in her stomach.
Did she see me?
She paused at the threshold.
Naia lifted from a crouched position in front of Father, her silver hair braided like a crown around her head. She kept her gaze down at the floor, but Marina could spot the tear stains on her tan cheeks as she passed by. A cloud of tropical fruit and florals wafted in her wake.
Mother had probably made her cry, which explained why she was no longer there.
The assurance eased some of Marina’s nervousness.
Her eyes flicked to Father, sitting in his regal, wing-backed chair.
Marina stared over her shoulder at the empty entrance of the box, fighting the impulse to run after Naia and console her. Mother wouldn’t approve. She’d made herself clear time and time again that Marina was forbidden to associate with her older sister.
She has hated you since you were born,Mother always said.
And Naia rarely ever made an effort to speak to Marina. Proof that her older sister wanted nothing to do with her. Marina told herself the feeling was mutual.
She rubbed the pad of her thumb and middle fingertip together, slowly turning to approach Father.
If Mother spoke to Naia in a demeaning way, he wouldn’t be in good spirits. He never was when Mother offended Naia.
But he’d finally visited the training grounds and witnessed Marina’s power. For the first time in ten years. And she’d been too eager to hear his praise.
