Branches scraped across Ana’s face as they pushed deeper into the thicket. When they broke through the line of trees, the rock formation stood within hand’s reach—only, instead of a solid surface, it was split in the middle by a crevice just large enough to fit a single-file trail of riders.
The Redcloaks dismounted, and Ana followed suit. Liliya shot her a smile that wasn’t unkind. “Camp,” she told Ana.
Ana ducked through the crack in the stones. They were in a tunnel, the walls and ground strangely smooth, as though someone had scraped them. Yuri walked ahead, flame clutched in the palm of his hand, lending light as it had for their entire journey.
“We built this,” Liliya whispered to Ana. “We planted the trees, and our stone Affinites made this tunnel.”
Gradually, pale light filtered in from somewhere ahead, growing brighter and brighter until Yuri extinguished his flames. A gentle dawn met them, and almost as suddenly as it had started, the tunnel ended, and they were standing in the open on the other side of the rock formation.
Ana couldn’t believe her eyes.
They were in a basin, surrounded on all sides by ridges of rocks that rose into mountains, looming between silver-gold expanses of sky and beneath lingering snow clouds. Trees dotted the landscape, and in between them were tents. People were beginning to wake, smoke rising as they lit fires and began to cook meals.
Liliya grinned. “Welcome to the settlement of the Northern Crimson Forces,” she said.
Ana looked around them, at the looming mountains. The cold here was deeper, sharper; her breath crystallized in tiny droplets of ice in the air.
“Chilly, right?” Liliya said. “We’re near Leydvolnya.”
The Ice Port,Ana thought with surprise. It was old Cyrilian folklore that the area around the Ice Port was cursed; the surrounding settlements had been abandoned after villagers claimed malignant spirits haunted its waters, which bled into the Silent Sea of the North.
Yuri turned to them, his mouth a tight line. “Take her to the War Room,” he instructed.
Liliya rolled her eyes. “She can barely stand, Firebraids—”
“I told you not to call me that,” Yuri gritted out.
“—and besides, what do you think she’s going to do?” Shewaved at Ana’s blackstone cuffs. “Her Affinity’s all locked up, and—”
“It’s gone,” Ana said quietly.
They all looked at her.
Ana summoned the last of her strength, forced herself to speak. “My Affinity,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “It’s gone.”
She was looking at Yuri, and he was staring back at her. Something flickered in his eyes, like the ghost of an old memory. “What do you mean, gone?” he asked.
“It’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Ana said. “It’s why I went to Bregon, Yuri—to find out and stop what Morganya’s planning. What she can do. What she could do to…to Shamaïra.”
Yuri clenched his teeth. Shamaïra’s name seemed to stir something inside him; emotions flashed across his face. “I need to check on the others who were dispatched to Iyenza—make sure they’re all right.” He nodded to Liliya. “Lil, bring her to my quarters. I’ll be there in a minute.” His gaze turned to her, searing. “You’ll tell me everything—about your Affinity, Morganya’s plan, and Shamaïra. No more hiding the truth, Ana.”
—
Liliya’s cheer seemed dampened as she led Ana through the camp. The girl kept glancing up at Ana, as though she might break apart at any moment.
The Northern Crimson Forces were slowly waking, people emerging from their tents sleepy-eyed and barely glancing at them as they passed by. There were entire families here, Ana noticed, and she couldn’t help but marvel at how easily Affinitieswere used, as though they were a part of daily life. Here, a water Affinite was shoveling snow into a cauldron; with a touch of her fingers, the snow turned to water, which she distributed between her siblings to drink. There, an earth Affinite taking clumps of rock and spinning them in his palms. When they grew still, they had become gleaming, glass-like figurines, to the delight of his children.
There was so much unbridled joy in their freedom, and the scenes roused an old ache deep in Ana’s chest. May would have fit in so well here. She could imagine her friend sitting on the ground, a gaggle of children gathered around her as her small hands fluttered like butterflies, weaving magic and making flowers grow from nothing but mud.
Liliya caught her looking and beamed, perhaps eager to divert the subject. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? A lot of them have never been able to freely use their Affinities throughout their entire lives and are just learning. Konstantyn’s been holding sessions to teach them. He’s a provyod—a yaeger,” she clarified, “though, here, we call themprovyods.”
Provyod,thought Ana.Guide.
It was a lovely and symbolic gesture, more conducive to the nature of their powers, which consisted of the ability to connect to and influence other Affinities. Kaïs, a yaeger who had taught her much of how to use her Affinity, would have fitted this description better. Their original name,yaeger,meaninghunter,had been popularized by the Cyrilian Imperial Patrols.
“Provyod,” Ana murmured. “I like that.” She turned to Liliya, and this time she had the strength to muster a tired smile. “I like this place.”
Liliya’s grin was tinged with pride. “This camp is proof thatAffinites and non-Affinites can coexist peacefully,” she said. “Yuri’s been working on the philosophy of the Redcloaks and our revolution”—she crossed her eyes and waggled her brows—“which arereallyboring when he gets into one of his lectures, but the camp here managed by the Northern Crimson Forces is basically the kind of world we want to make.”
