A sob escapes me. The pain is excruciating.I don’t know what my truth is.
The truth is what is real. Open your eyes, forget revenge, and release your anger. The truth is wisdom, love, hope, beauty, light.
Vena?Never have I wished for her flowery ramblings more. I’m so afraid and so lost. I need help.How?I whimper.
Choose to serve instead of to rule. Therein lies your fate.
My mother’s face fills my visions, and I feel her strength. It’s not enough.I can’t do it.
Youcan. Reject the lie.
Clarity is slow to come, like the shifting sands on a calm day. One grain can topple a whole dune. I’ve been swayed by the lie. The one that corrupts and taints. It breaks from within, stealing control and spreading doubt and insecurity. It’s the thief of joy. I’ve let others steal my power from me.
But I amnotpowerless.
I am a single flicker of light in a dark sky. Resilient and resistant. I float in the midst of chaos. My peace is within my grasp—I only have to be brave enough to reach for it. A whisper of courage beats in my chest. Rediscovering my truths is a simple series of steps. What are they? What are the things that ground me?
Family. Friendship. Forging weapons. Reading. Stories with Mama. My beautiful desert home. Baths. Books. Amma. Papa.
Laleh, my best friend, whose soul is soaring high. Whose smile could light the world.
Clem, who saved my life more than once.
Roshan... who came for me even when I chased him away.
Forgive, forgive, forgive.
Peace blankets my soul like a salve. I can feel the shadow recoil and then renew its attack. Gritting my teeth, I fill my heart with images of my life. Withloveand joy. Memories fire in my brain and I bask in them, feeling hope and laughter fill me until the tendrils of darkness wither and withdraw. I feel my soul start to flicker with life—to shine like the star it is. The inky shape shrinks to hover above me like a noxious cloud, and I can taste its malevolence. It wantsmy anger and my rage. It wants pain, violence, and hate. It wants to consume.
But darkness can never thrive where light burns.
My fragile concentration falters as Javed rises above me, his mouth a rictus, a curved blade poised right above my heart.
“It’s time, Starkeeper,” the king croons.
Runes on my arms brighten in defense... but the runic net nulls them.
Fuck, I’m going to die in the middle of the most epic epiphany of all time.
Shouts fill the room, and a low whine cuts through the air. I scream as a force slams into Javed’s body with a wet thwack. His arm drops limply and his body crumples, and I see an arrow protruding from the left side of his chest.
There’s no way he could have survived a shot at such close range—but someone isn’t taking any chances. The earth rune on the arrow ignites, and I look away as his rib cage cracks in half. Morvarid lets out a shriek of agony that rings in my ears as the Scavs pour in, plunging their weapons into the surrounding mystics and palace guards.
“What are you doing, Vogon?” the queen screams.
“Taking what is mine,” the general says, striding over to Javed’s fractured body to retrieve the blade in his dead hands. “I, too, know the prophecy. He who claims the Starkeeper’s heart becomes the hand of the gods.”
“You killed my son.” An enraged Morvarid flies toward him, dagger raised.
Mydagger, I realize painfully. The one she’d murdered Laleh with.
Mayhem ensues as steel clashes against steel, Kaldarians against Scavs, and for a moment, the ritual is stalled. Magic from the jadu weapons salts the air. Bodies ice over and are lit with flame, lightning sparking and more cracks fissuring through people and along the floor. I push upright and swallow a burst of nausea. I’m still hampered by the unholy amounts of Jade swimming in my veins.
Gingerly, I slide off the altar and crawl toward Roshan, who is slumped where Javed had left him. He’s still alive, though barely. His chest rises and falls with shallow breaths. The sentry who had been securing him lies staring up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes, half his skull missing. Grunting, I drag Roshan’s body to the hollow space beneath the stone platform. He’ll be safest there. All around us bodies are falling in the conflict, Scavs and guards alike.
“Wake up,” I whisper harshly. “Damn it, Roshan, wake the fuck up! This is no time to play Sleeping Beauty!”
“So no kiss then?” Lips tipping upward, his eyes flutter open, and the hint of amusement in me dies at what I see there. Instead of teasing, they’re filled with so much pain that my eyes well. “I’m so sorry, Sura. Didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Didn’t mean to hurt you.”
