“Almost there.” Yuri’s voice was barely a murmur as he drew up next to her. His Redcloaks followed, Seyin riding close behind to lend them the cover of shadows where they might need it.
Daya slowed her steed on Ana’s other side. “Just four streets away, if I remember correctly.”
Behind them, Tetsyev’s face was drawn, fear showing plainly through his gaze. He caught Ana’s eyes, however, and gave her a pinched nod.
Ana’s breaths misted in the air as she tipped her head up, gazing at the Palace that had been her home and her prison. From here, its walls were in sight; from here, they would lay siege to it and break through its gates.
From here, there was no going back.
She was aware of her soldiers watching her. By now, the rest of her army would be in position.
Ana raised her arm. “For equality.”
Linn, performing on a stage with shackles on her hands and feet.
“For justice.”
May, lifeless ocean-eyes staring up at the stars that she would never see again.
“For the people.”
Yuri’s restaurant ravaged to ruins; the Imperial Inquisition, marching through the streets of Goldwater Port, burning down dachas and breaking apart families.
Ana summoned the spark of fire inside her, channeling it to her fingertips. Flame burst from her hand, spiraling high and triumphant into the sky.
From all around her arose a battle cry as her army charged from all directions. Fire, rock, marble, and ice rained down on the Palace gates, and the night lit up in shades of crimson as the Red Tigress’s army laid siege on the Salskoff Palace.
To create a future, one first had to destroy the past.
The Syvern Taiga stretched in an endless blur of shadows. Linn’s heartbeat thundered in her ears as she and Kaïs rode, their harried breaths misting white vapor before them. Even in the depths of a Cyrilian winter night, sweat seeped into her clothes, freezing into ice.
At midnight, they’d arrived at the Red Tigress’s camp at Osengrad—only it had been empty. Tracks had led away from the city gates to the east, the snow flattened by thousands, even tens of thousands, of boots. It wasn’t difficult to figure out where Ana and her army were headed.
Salskoff.
The streets had been completely deserted when she and Kaïs passed through, yet they’d found a single pub with its globefires lit and doors open for the weary traveler. They’d found a thick-hooved horse tied in the stables, its sturdy and large build used for lugging wagons and supply carts. Kaïs hadn’t hesitated to cut through its bindings; they’d left all that remained of their coins on the ground.
In the patches of sky that filtered through the canopy, Linnsaw stars. She’d learned to read the night sky throughout her years indentured in this cold, harsh land; the constant, slow turn of constellations over her head had comforted her back then, knowing that no matter how long the night, there was always a dawn to come.
By the stars, it was the early hours of the morning—the ghost hours.
And Salskoff was still nowhere in sight.
Linn held on tightly to Kaïs as they crashed forward through brush and branches. Through it all, she could feel the press of the small wooden token against her collarbone.
They had to reach Ana before Morganya’s Imperial Patrols reached the Palace.
They had to find the Heart before Morganya did.
Their horse gave a sudden, shrill bray. A moment later—amoment too late—Linn spotted it. With no warning, the conifers of the Syvern Taiga parted, revealing the precipice of a cliff buried beneath snow.
Kaïs let out a grunt as he pulled sharply on the reins, but it was too late. With an abrupt twist, the world spun over them as they plunged sharply down.
Snow, air, and trees; between it all, Linn held on tightly to Kaïs. She sensed his Affinity reaching out to hers, a warm, steady hand bridging their minds, lending his strength to hers. Heard the echo of his voice in her head from what seemed like foreverago.
Now, fly.
Linn flipped over in midair and called on her winds.
