Chiyo splashes her, and to my surprise, Ava splashes her right back. Isobel shrieks, ducking for cover before moving away and dissolving into giggles. I remain at a safe distance, unable to resist smiling.
When the splashing settles down, Ava says, “I have, but it was meaningless.”
Chiyo’s cheeks pinken again. “That’s how I felt about Claude,” she says, her signs coming a heartbeat later.
She and Ava exchange lingering gazes, as if Isobel and I have ceased to exist.
Isobel lifts her limp hair, the red hue darkened from the water. “I’ll be detangling this bird’s nest for a thousand years still after we get out of this water,” she says.
I sigh. “Same.”
Ava returns to painstakingly unbraiding one of her long, thick plaits. “Don’t even get me started.”
We finish washing up and get out of the river, discreetly drying ourselves and getting dressed. As I sit on a large boulder, rolling on my socks, I feel someone watching me. Isobel’s looking my way.
She blushes and lowers her head for a moment before facing me again. “Apologies, I was admiring your tattoo,” she says.
I roll the sleeve of my tunic back farther so she can see the tattoo better. “Thank you. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would permanently put ink on my skin.”
She reciprocates my smile. “Why did you?”
Chiyo and Ava look on once they’re dressed. Ava finger-combs through her thick, curly tresses that fall to her waist.
“A fresh start, I suppose,” I say. “In the early spring, I’d been apprehended by Forayers. When I arrived in Paramount, one of the soldiers branded me.” I slide my thumb over the inked floral moon phases on my left inner forearm. Though the burn is no longer easily visible, I can still feel the raised skin. “I hated the reminder of the moment they tried to destroy my life, so I chose to have it transformed into something beautiful. I know many people have scars—but every time I looked at this one, it felt like a physical blow. It’s probably a trivial thing.”
Isobel smiles, but for once it isn’t just glee or excitement in her grey-blue eyes, but something deeper I cannot quite place. “It isn’t,” she says. “I did the same.” She hesitates for a moment before tugging down the shoulders of her tunic and turning her lightly freckled back for me to see. She pulls her hair over to the front of her body, revealing a tattoo of what looks like butterfly wings between her narrow shoulder blades. I have to squint to make out the scar where the wings join. When she turns back to me, she says, “I think scars are beautiful in their own right, but I also hated how mine made me feel. So … unwanted.”
For a moment, she doesn’t say anything else. She only tugs her tunic on again and sits on the ground with her shoulders slumped over. “My mother took it upon herself to put me out of my misery once my galemaking fully manifested. It was a poor attempt at execution.” She smirks darkly and I nearly fall off the boulder.
My heart sputters, suddenly heavier in my chest. Even Ava’s eyes are wide, and Chiyo’s jaw is practically on the floor.
“Execution?” Chiyo asks.
“Not an official one or anything. Left me with a blade in my back.” Isobel wrings her hands awkwardly, before looking back up so I can read her lips. “I was in the kitchen preparing a snack when my mother came up behind me. I could hear the tears in her voice as she told me she was sorry and itwas for my own good. I’d just started to turn to ask what she meant when she struck.”
I’m certain I look as shocked as Ava and Chiyo do. Ava swears and rubs her temples as if Isobel’s story has given her an instant headache.
“Isobel, I—” Chiyo’s lost for words, as are we all. “How old were you?”
Isobel inhales deeply. “Thirteen. I’d like to think it was for the best. They’d always treated Sloan badly. Sloan was theirgreat shame, their Undesirable, deformed child. Our parents kept them hidden as much as they could. Sloan somehow managed to hide their stump for a while, but by the time people found out, no one truly cared. Except for our parents. It was my injury that gave Sloan the push to drag me away from that place.”
She pauses and exhales. “We sailed from the Outer Isles while I healed from the wound in my back. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and I was sure I wouldn’t survive it. We met a kind man in Bayenbar where we stayed for a while. Niall Kilkenny.”
My heart leaps at the name, and I blink at Isobel.Niall Kilkenny.
She nods, then looks at Chiyo with a smile. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Chiyo returns her smile.
“I saw him only for a moment before he put us under the care of a man named Murtagh. Eventually, we made our way to the Verge. That was five years ago.”
“Did you join the rebels right away?” Chiyo asks.
“I didn’t. I needed safety and consistency more than I needed to be a savior. But now … I only hope to return the favor of the rebels and help this kingdom in any way I can. I cannot let people like my parents continue to win and continue to spread hatred.”
A heaviness hangs in the air until Chiyo gets up and walks over to Isobel. She crouches to embrace her, hugging her so tightly, I’m afraid she’ll snap her in half. When she finally releases Isobel, she says, “The fact that you kept going after your own mother literally stabbed you in the back means they’ve already lost.”
Ava and I nod in agreement, and Isobel laughs through tears. “Now, an important question: who won never have I ever?”
