A heavily pregnant Belle waddled forward, one hand pressed beneath her belly button, the other pushing sweat-soaked hair back from her eyes, over her augmented diadem. At her back, none other than Alicia, lead scientist of the rebel forces, and creator of the shield. An auspicious day, indeed.
“Have you changed your mind about joining us, Mila?”
I didn’t look at Belle, choosing instead to keep my eyes shut, beseeching Kas to forgive me even as I scanned the forest for Belle’s armed guard. As ever, seeking them was not a challenge—but this time they had come prepared to do battle.
I tisked. “Really, Belle? Weapons? Are you no better thanthem?”I sighed, turning my attention back. Toward home. “How… disappointing.”
She folded both hands atop her swollen belly. “I did tell you we are prepared to escalate this discussion.”
Without Kas, I made no effort to conceal myself from her dull, Triloth senses. I let my left leg dangle, swinging it as I braced my chin on the opposite knee. “You cannot take me, Belle. Not here. None of you can.”
“Don’t be arrogant. You’re not untouchable, Mila. Our weapons are finally something worth bragging about. But they canalwaysbe better, sister.”
Arrogant, was I? With a sigh, my eyes drifted closed—and I seized the ki of every man on my soil, draining them unconscious in an instant. Leaving Alicia and her weapon untouched. Careful not to taste lest I rouse the hunger lurking in the dark that had already been sorely tempted this week.
“Goddess, Mila—” she clenched her jaw, icy blue eyes trying to light the shadows as she glared at me. “They aregoodmen—”
“Then stop sending yourgoodmen to hunt me, and maybe one day they can leave my lands the same way they enter it,” I snapped, then took a breath. Marshalling my temper, I conjured a throne of vines and soft things for her to sit on. “The child. Can you sense the sex yet?” I asked, leg swinging.
For a moment, she did nothing but glare. And then, “It’s a girl.” She sat with a huff. “We’re having another girl.”
I nodded, making a sound at the back of my throat, letting the silence drag on. “Tell me, Belle,” I rasped watching her. “Are you not curious?”
Belle blinked, frowning up at my shadow. A delicate wisp of augmented Triloth ki probed the dark. “You called,” she said at length. “Younevercall.”
Clever girl. Grinning now, I hummed, lips parting to share my good news.
“The truth is, Mila,” she breathed, speaking over me as she settled into her seat. “It doesn’t matterwhyyou called. Only that you did. I’m terrified for you. This place… It gets darker every time I come.” She shivered, rubbing at the gooseflesh on her bare arms as she plucked a tainted leaf and worked it between forefinger and thumb. “It’s time to abandon this foolishness. You are Trila-Glís! You can do so muchgoodwith your gifts.”
“Trila-Glís?” Ire prickled, I stood, hands balled into fists. “Good?”
Belle swallowed, clutching at Alicia’s hand as the gentle flames of a Triloth whispered to the darkest of Truths.
I laughed, reckless, leaping from my perch. Making no effort at grace, I landed with a thud, allowing her to set eyes upon me for the first time in five years. “You speak these words as if you understand them,” I spat, stalking toward the pair, fury spiking through the soil, through the vines in her seat—vines that grew thorns in tune with my temper. “You speak ofgoodas if you’ve seen its opposite. You whisper ‘Trila-Glís’like a prayer, as if you know what it’s like to live with it twisting in your guts day and night. Calling out. Begging for terrible things.”
Hand pressed to her throat, Belle gasped, white rimming her eyes. “Goddess above. Y-You should see yourself, Mila.”
“Vanity? Ha!” I bared my teeth, grinning down at her as I approached, unable to stop myself from taking just alittletaste… “What use have I of vanity?Yousee me, Belle. Tell me what you see. Give it a name, sweet sister.”
Pupils blown out, she responded without hesitation, though her voice trembled. “D-Darkness.”
“Hm.” I set my hands on either side of her brier throne, almost nose to nose. Not touching. Denying the hunger. “What else? Say it.”
“Empath.” She swallowed, hiding her belly beneath crossed, protective arms. “I see an Empath unleashed.”
“Oh?” My head tilted to the side as I glanced at the child ripening in her womb. “Not a High Priestess surrogate, then?”
A quick shake of her head.
“You’re right, of course. You’ve named me truer than you know. ‘Darkness’…” I straightened, spreading my arms. “I am the bedtime story the High Priestess used to scare you into completing your lessons. Do you really want me under the mountain with you? With your mundane,helplesschildren?”
She met my eye. Bottling her fear. “I can help you.”
“You’re wrong!” I snarled, whirling away, claws scoring my palms. “I amnotTrila-Glís! I never was. You should be focusing on rescuing those who fit into your perfect little world—”
“Rescue the Trila-Glís?” She laughed, bold as ever. “And how do you expect me to do that, Empath? They’re locked away in the heart of the Empire. No, like it or not,” she continued, breaking a thorn before it pierced her tender skin, “you’re my only option. My children will have a secure future.”
I rolled my shoulders, reaching for the soothing majesty of the Grandmother. Trying to temper the so-named Darkness before it slipped its leash, I funneled my excess ki into the weapons of Belle’s good, unconscious men, then said, “What if youdidn’thave to settle for me? What if you could free the High Priestess today? What then?”
