“We won’t graduate,” Corra explained. “They’ll expel me for exceeding the annual roster quota for Voyagers, and her too for enabling it.”
“And then they’ll send us both back.” Sarina sounded afraid.
Back where?
Neither of them had been in the Reformatory in the last year. She’d awoken my curiosity, and now I had to know. “Fine,” I threw my hands up. “I swear I won’t repeat any of this.”
“After Hanna, Mom says Dad sorta...lost it. I don't remember him before, so to me he's always been...” Sarina sighed, her smile miserable. “Dad isn't a good person. But Mom protected Corra and I from him. For a while.”
“Not very well,” Corra said. “Mom was beside herself with worry every time we ran away, and Dad...he did what he always did. And eventually, we’d had enough. Sarra and I started trying to find a permanent solution.”
“If I stayed Sarra Erlen, or if we entered the Mistrun together, he'd find us,” Sarina picked up the story. It was almostuncanny how smoothly they transitioned between the retelling. “He’s a Prelate, and there are only twenty five thousand people on this island. Not much room to hide,” she continued.
“So I put my application in at the Mistrun as Sarina Wellman, and that's who I decided to be. I have always wanted to be a Voyager, I just didn’t think I’d end up becoming one under a different name. But that's who I am now.” Sarina stopped twisting her hands together.
“I snuck in after she qualified,” Corra said. “We’ve been switching out every day. Who gets to use the bed each night, and who hides and sleeps in the library or Fitness center, or attends lessons and training. Sarina’s going to graduate and take the glyph, we flipped for it. We’re both getting on whatever Arc they assign us. After that, nobody will be able to force us to go back, even if they do find out.”
It was no choice at all, the decision they’d made.
“If your Dad is a Prelate, couldn't he have just changed the law to save Hanna?”
Corra let out a bray of a laugh, it grated against my ears. “Even Prelates can't change the laws to serve their own interests. That's why there are always three of them, so no single one can abuse their power.”
I digested everything they’d told me. “This is why you were standing by yourself and didn't know anyone after qualifying when we had to choose roommates. And why you came back into the Fitness center just after leaving.”
“That was me,” Corra admitted. “I didn’t realize Sarina had just left. It’s been incredibly difficult to coordinate knowing where she is without being near each other since anyone could see us together. Especially in such a confined outpost.” she said.
“The missing present. The bracelet.” I smacked my forehead. “Sarina’s been wearing it, but Corra doesn’t have one.” Sarina nodded.
A stray thought trickled forth. “The Priest said that Prelate Erlen isn’t well,” I said.
Sarina let out another small bitter laugh while Corra scoffed. “I hope Dad isn’t well. Only being allowed to keep two children and then treating them so poorly they both ran away,” Sarina said.
“Probably drank himself sick. Again,” Corra added.
I had done worse things than Sarina, trying to escape my own past. Hearing her history, it felt right to share a truth about mine, too. I looked at the yo-yo and I thought about Alaric. Nikolach and everything I'd done, everything I’d gone through to get myself out of the Reformatory rose to the tip of my tongue. My fist clenched. None of that made it past my lips. “I wasn't old enough when I entered the Mistrun, either. My birthday was two days after yours.”
Sarina lifted her gaze to mine, understanding shining in them. “Was it...was it your Dad?” she asked in a small voice.
“No, Papa isn't... My whole family is good. I was–I am, trying to avoid going back somewhere else.” I leaned forward and put one hand on top of Sarina’s, the other on top of Corra’s. “I won't let them find you,” I promised. “None of us are going back.”
Chapter 25
Blood in the Miasma
Things stayed blessedly uneventful for a week.
I confided to Sarina and Corra about my conflicted feelings and history with Zevrial, and they kept everything I told them to themselves. Which was good, because I wasn't even sure what I was feeling, beyond raw animal attraction. I didn’t tell them about the shared Skinscript, or about the additional glyphs he would give me. It was too volatile a secret to share.
Training sessions were difficult, but less so since Henrik had decided to start showing up for them. Nothing like the first night happened again, and I didn't dare ask Zevrial when I'd be getting more Skinscript in front of Henrik. I was growing stronger, nimbler, with each day’s focused tutoring. And without the swamping tiredness that had hung over me since the Mistrun. I’d even managed to outmaneuver Zevrial a few more times.
Today's lesson was wrapping up, which was fortunate because it was annoyingly windy out. I pushed my hair out of my face for the hundredth time.
“—Pull both ends tight. See how it cinches snugly around the post? It's secure under tension. This knot can be used to secure an Arc’s sails, as it is sturdy and will tighten if pulled from almost any direction. That's everything we'll be covering for today,” Instructor Garcien said. She left the knots hanging from the helm so anyone could inspect them.
I sprang up, ready for lunch.
“Lisia,” Instructor Garcien called toward me, and I halted. “Would you mind staying for a minute?”
