In the newfound light, I see Widow’s Hall, still standing; the scattered remnants of a battlefield; a few homes with shattered windows; and blood streaked across the snow.
The screams continue. The fire in the arena burns on, so brilliantly it’s as if the beacons atop Widow’s Hall are lit once again.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
EVERY LIE I’VE EVER TOLD
There are no survivors.
Hours after the flames have subsided and the screams have died, decurio continue to sift through the wreckage. There are no signs of life.
The only Petruvian soldiers who made it out of the invasion with their lives were the ones not in the arena. They fled down the mountain once they heard the screams. We later received word that they took hostages as they ran—their only leverage in the war they just started.
It takes two days for the sky carts to work again. In that time, I help Luc with damage control. We assess the number of fallen Virdeian soldiers, take inventory of how much tshira we used in the invasion, and prepare medical units to tend to the wounded. All soldiers. So far, there have been no reported civilian injuries.
As soon as the sky carts are working again, Kaidren and I take one to the base of the mountain. To Aja.
Except when I knock on her front door, heart sitting in my throat, she doesn’t answer.
A foreboding chill crawls up the back of my neck.
We try asking around, but those in neighboring houses all have the same story: They haven’t seen Aja in three days. Since the invasion.
Kaidren tries to comfort me. He hugs me and murmurs meaningless assurances in my ear as we return to Widow’s Hall. I ignore him.
I saw Aja the morning of the invasion. I sent her away. She was supposed to return to Ophera so I could find her later. She didn’t. Kaidren means well, but I know what her absence means, even if he can’t admit it.
She never made it down the mountain.
I storm into Luc’s office.
“Mira.” Luc gives me a disapproving frown. He sits across from General Fain. They both look up, shocked at the intrusion. “I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
“It’s an emergency. General, can I speak with you?”
They exchange looks.
For a moment, I think Luc’s going to refuse, but when he meets my gaze andreallylooks at me, his expression shifts from irritated to concerned. He nods.
I shift my wild, frantic eyes to General Fain. “When were the sky carts grounded during the invasion?”
He tilts his head to the side, confused by the question. “Just before the coronation.”
It takes about an hour to get down the mountain. Aja was in my room half an hour before the carts were grounded. “What about any carts already in the air?”
“I think they were brought back to Widow’s Hall. The passengers were taken to safety here.”
“Youthink?”
He raises his brows, no doubt not appreciating my harsh tone. “That’s what they were instructed to do.”
I want to be relieved, but I’m not. If Aja was in a sky cartand brought back to Widow’s Hall, we would have found each other by now. “Did you hear anything about any Opherans during the invasion?”
“Just you, Miss Kyler,” he says dryly. “You’re the only Opheran who lives in Widow’s Hall, and the only one invited to the coronation.”
I already know this. “Were there any Opheran civilians found outside?”
“No. Any civilians outside above the Collar were brought into Widow’s Hall for protection.”
