“Idon’tremember much from when you three rescued me, or much from the days we traveled—Chess has had me on tons of herbs and medicines—but I do remember snippets. I… I can still see it in my mind, the image of you facing down Dimitri—your ownbrother—forme.” As he spoke the last sentence, his voice cracked and tears rushed to flood his eyes. “Thank youdoesn’t feel like it quite cuts it, but I can’t think of anything else to say,” he expressed softly, the gratitude in his voice thick.
“Ezra… Youdon’tneed to thank me—or any of us, for that matter.You’reone of us. And no member of ourValwainwill beleft behind.” Ilookedhim right in the eyes as I spoke, so he knew I meant every word I said.
I listened to the shaky breath he let out, then he released his soft hold on me and took a step back. Ihadn’tnoticed it until then, but he had a very slight limp as he walked, and he focused more of his weightontohis left side.
Before he could see the guilt flooding my expression, I plastered another small grin on.
“I love what you two have done with the place,” I said, motioning to the surrounding chambers.
“That’sright! Youhaven’tseen it yet! Well, welcome. Here, come sit and make yourself at home.” He moved a few cushions from the longer couch and motioned for me to take a seat.
Instead of tucking mywings intight, I sat with my back to the far arm of the couch and let my wings hang over the side. Still close to me and not touching the ground, but more comfortable than squishing them against the back of the seat.
“I… should’ve thought about that.” He scratched the back of his neck.
Just before I could open my mouth to tell him not to worry, the fire on the other side of the lounge from us sputtered and went out.
“I’ve got it!” Ezra proclaimed, suddenly hopping from his seat and making his way over to the fireplace—but not before having to pause and regain his balance, as though the sudden motion had made him dizzy or lightheaded.
Raising a hand toward the fireplace, I said, “Ezra, I could just—”
“I can do it!”heinsisted, gathering a few logs from a perfectly arranged pile nearby and placing them inside, where the flame had just been. I watched as he struggled to hold the small flint devicein order tocreate a spark, and at that point, I could no longer sit back and watch.
Crossing the space, I put a gentle hand on his shoulder and guided himbackwardsso hewasn’tso close. Then, with a single flickofmy wrist, I managed to conjure and toss a small ball of fire into the center of the small logs.
The wood crackled as it caught fire, casting a golden glow across our faces.
Ezra seemed to cave in on himself, leaning backwards until he sat on the floor with his long legs spread out in front of him.
“If I can’t manage to light a stupid fire, what use am I to anybody?”heasked, the fightseemingto drain out of him as he spoke, his eyes glued to the flames.
Slowly, I positioned myself to besitting inbetween him and the flames, pulling mywings intight to my body.
“I’m all ears,” I reassured my friend softly.
He pressed his lips together for a moment, his expressioncontemplative. Then, he sighedshakily, andjust let the words flow.
“Everybody is treating me likeI’mgoing to break at any given moment.They’recoddlingme, and at first, it wassort of nice. Icouldn’tmove or do much without feeling pain, so I appreciated their efforts. But I thought itwould’ve stoppedby now. They keep walking on eggshells around me,Quinn especially. But none of them seem to get it—Iwantnormalcy. I want to be useful again, Aviva. I want to bemeagain. And I want to knowwhat’sreally going on, because I know what I went through was only the beginning. The North will stop at nothing, and Dimitri might truly be the key to making them successful. And yet,I’mpositive Quinn has threatened the entireValwaininto keeping their lips sealed around me, because nobody is filling me in. I understand that they want to protect me, but this should be my decision to make. AndI’vemade it.” His voice was raw as hespoke,his eyes beginning to water the more he let out. “Theydon’tseem tocomprehendthat if I were going to break, Iwould’vebroken while I was being actively tortured. But Ididn’t.”
His hands shook as he rung them out before him. His expression was sullen, like he’d nearly given up.
But he deserved better than that after all he’d been through. And I’d let him know it.
“You’re right,” I said softly as I reached out and placed one hand on top of my friend’s.
It was then that I noticedthefirst finger on his right hand was shorter than itshould’vebeen. For a moment, I thought it was a trick of the light, but no. The tip of his finger was completely gone, cut off at the top joint, below where the nail once was.
My stomach dropped as I remembered what, exactly, my brother had been tossing around whenI’dlast seen him.
Without letting Ezra notice whatI’dobserved, I carried on, though the thought thathe’dendured that andworse—and at the hands of my twin, no less—was like a knife to the heart.
“You deserve better than how everybody has been treating you,” I clarified when he looked up at me,seemingly shockedat howI’dagreed with him. “I’m here to fix that.”
“You’d… You’d do that?” Ezra asked quietly.
“I can deal with Quinn later.” I nodded. “Plus, Rayven agrees with me and will have my back.”
“I don’t want to cause a divide…”He hesitated, though I knew this was what he wanted.
