I bite down even harder than before, sure I’ll taste blood any moment. “I know,” I whisper.
“And Clare wasn’t your fault either. She wanted to be there, she wanted to help, because that’s the kind of person she was. She knew the risks and she was prepared to take them anyway. Don’t diminish her bravery by pinning the blame on yourself.”
I hang my head in shame and in misery.
Clare was one of my first friends, she was one of my only friends for a considerable amount of time at the academy. I love that girl just as much as I love the man standing in front of me, just as much as I love my dragon, just as much as I loved my sister.
“I’m going to miss her so much.”
“I know you will, Nini,” Thorne says, wrapping me in his arms. “We all will.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Fox
All the remaining students and members of staff are gathered in the Great Hall, and all of them are staring my way expectantly, waiting for me to speak. I don’t want to scare or alarm them unnecessarily. But it’s only fair that I’m upfront, that I tell them the truth of what’s coming. They deserve that, after all.
Habit has me lingering in the shadows of the raised platform of the Great Hall. But I take a deep breath and step forward into the light so that everyone can see me more clearly. Briony and the others are lingering at the back of the stage. The only person missing is Fly, who’s still too upset by the events of today for a meeting like this.
“Thank you,” I tell everyone gathered. “I know it’s late, and I’m grateful for you all coming here. I’m grateful that you’re all still here, full stop.” I pause. “I don’t know all of you that well. But I know enough to understand how brave you are, and how determined you are to see things change in this realm.” I fix the students before me with a hard stare. “Change nevercomes easily. It always comes with a fight. And unfortunately, I’m afraid to say, that fight has come sooner than we hoped, although perhaps not sooner than we predicted.”
I wet my lips. People are whispering among themselves now, and I curse myself for being so cryptic. I should have gotten straight to the point.
“The Empress is on her way to the academy,” I tell them. “I can only assume she intends to arrest Briony Storm, the three Princes, and most probably me too.”
This causes more whispering. Everyone knows that Briony is the Princes’ thrall. One or two know more than that, that they are fated mates. No one knows about my connection to Briony, or hers to me. We’ve kept it a secret all this time, although perhaps it’s become more and more obvious.
“It seems the Empress predicts that we will resist arrest. Not only that we will resist arrest, but that others” – I sweep my gaze over them all – “might help us. It is because of this that she has raised an army.”
There are gasps at this. I guess we all knew the elite guard would come, but an army is something else altogether.
“She has no intention of letting us resist. She will arrest us by force. Arrest us and kill us.”
There’s more whispering now, so I raise my hand and my voice.
“Please. Silence. There’s more you ought to know about this situation before you decide whether you want to fight alongside us or not. You have a choice.”
“A choice? What fucking choice do we have?” a boy, Stanley Chandlers, calls out from the back of the hall.
“You’re more than free to leave. Anyone who doesn’t want to remain can leave.”
“And where the hell would we go? How the hell would we get there? There isn’t exactly a train waiting at the platform to take us away.”
He has a point. It also isn’t my concern right now, particularly as I have no sympathy at all for the little shithead.
“If you don’t want to leave, you can remain. You don’t have to fight with us, that is your choice.” The shithead scoffs but remains where he is. I motion for Briony, Beaufort, Dray, and Thorne to join me. “We are fated mates,” I say to the astonished crowd. “Fate has connected me to Briony Storm, Briony Storm to me. It’s also connected her to Beaufort Lincoln, Dray Eros, and Thorne Cadieux.
“I think this shows you, perhaps more than anything – anything at all – that this is our fate. To change things. To alter the realm forever. To make it a better place for us all. Not just the few.”
“But an army,” one of the few remaining shadow weavers seated in the front row says. “How are we going to fight an army?”
There are murmurs of agreement. Several people nod their heads, others look up at me expectantly.
“We’ve already discovered the old spells that once protected the academy when it was a castle that belonged to the lumomancers. We’ve re-awakened those spells. They will do much to protect us. They will give us time to prepare.”
“Prepare how?” the shadow weaver asks.
“That’s why I’ve gathered you here. We have a plan. When combined, our powers,” I motion to Briony and the Princes, “are far greater than anything this realm has ever seen.”
