I need to move faster. I don’t even try to be quiet.
‘Kay!’ I cry out into the night, picking up my pace. ‘Kay! Kay!’
I try to listen as I run, praying I’m heading in the right direction. If I don’t make it, then what will happen to Kay? Will she be safely sent back to Artur? If I’m kicked out of the Retterheld, how will I even speak to Jonas or Llinos to work out what I’m supposed to do next? They’ve both offered me a home afterwards, but what if they’re still in the competition for another two moons? What am I meant to do in the meantime?
Panic is rising in my chest, making it difficult to breathe as I run.
‘Rose! Where are you? Rose!’
It’s a whisper on the wind, so quiet it’s hard to believe I’m not imagining it. But then it comes again.
‘Rose! I’m here, Rose!’
Kay! My heart lurches so hard it seals my throat, and I break into a sprint.
‘Kay! Keep calling me, Kay! Keep calling me!’
‘I’m here, Rose! I’m here!’
With every step, her voice gets louder, but I’m still not there.Gods, don’t take her from me now.My chest is heaving as tendrils of light creep through the canopy above me, colouring the grey leaves with golden light.
‘Kay, I’m nearly there. I’m coming!’
‘Hurry, Rose! Hurry up! Don’t you dare screw this up now, or I swear to the Gods I will never forgive you! You hear me, Rose? Hurry the fuck up!’
Her voice is so loud I can hear the enunciation in every word, but I struggle to reply. My lungs burn. My body is wrecked.
‘Rose!’
‘I’m coming, Kay. I’m?—’
The word is swallowed from my throat as I break into a clearing and see her standing there, bound to a tree with whips made of white light.
I don’t know if it’s the magic that’s holding her there or the way the sunlight is diffusing through the twigs and branches above, but her hair is luminous and her eyes are so vibrant that she looks like a Goddess. She is a creature of the forest, too perfect to possibly be human.
‘Rose, you need to touch me!’ she yells. ‘That’s the way to break the magic. You need to touch me. Quickly!’
It’s more of a grab than a touch, my arms squeezing so tightly around her tall frame that I’m surprised I don’t hear her bones crack. I’ve got her. I’ve got her.
‘You’re alive.’ Her voice breaks as she pushes herself back and wipes the tears from my cheeks. ‘I was so worried. I’ve been so worried. They said you were hurt by other Rettlings.’
‘It’s okay. It’s okay. We’re both all right. We’ll be all right.’ I don’t know if I’m holding her up, or if she’s holding me. All I know is that I don’t want to let go. And yet she steps back, her forehead creasing with concern.
‘They say you scaled a jötunn? That you defeated it without magic? And that another Rettling tried to kill you?’
‘I wouldn’t say I defeated it alone. It was a team effort. And as for Zara trying to kill me …’ I shrug. ‘I guess it didn’t help that I set her alight with a fire bead on our first night in the High Hold.’
She gapes at me. ‘Bloody hell, Rose! Tell me you’re joking?’
‘About her trying to kill me, or me setting her alight?’
‘Both!’
There’s something about the way she’s fretting that’s remarkably comforting. This is my sister, my Kay, gaping at me with bafflement, like she can’t quite understand how I’ve done what I’ve done. It’s a look she’sgiven me many a time, as though I’ve somehow pulled a miracle out of the bag, a meal from nothing.
‘It’s fine,’ I assure her. ‘Zara tried to kill me first so I was just teaching her that I’m not an easy target.’
‘Rose!’ I can’t tell if she’s scandalised or impressed. But I don’t care. She’s here. With me. That’s all that matters.
