She wouldn’t waste another moment. “Ella. Will you send word to Maren? I’m going to Star Isle.”
“I’m going with you,” Oro said.
She turned to face him and said in a low voice, “I need to go alone.”
He frowned.
“Not alone,” she clarified. “Ciel and Avel will be there.” Her Skyling warriors inched closer.
Isla imagined Oro would demand to speak to every Starling and interrogate them over any information about the rebels. That wasn’t what they needed. That wasn’t the way Isla wanted to first address her new people.
Oro nodded, but he didn’t look happy in the slightest. He turned to Azul. “Did your spies hear anything else about the rebels? Has anyone else been attacked? Threatened?”
Azul shook his head. “No one else.”
That couldn’t be true. Why only target her?
If what Ella said was correct, that there must be Starlings among the rebels ... that didn’t make sense. They had hurt her. They could have killed her, which would have led to the deaths of all WildlingsandStarlings.
Something wasn’t adding up.
Isla caught up with Ella before she left the Mainland castle. She felt awkward asking her these questions, but she had to know. “Are the Starlings ... are they disappointed that I’m their ruler now? Are they angry that I still haven’t visited?”
“No. They know you were attacked and that you’ve been busy since.”
Isla frowned. “They must resent me, though. They must—”
Ella laughed. Isla didn’t think she had ever seen the Starling laugh before.
“Isla,” she said softly. “All of us grew up accepting that our lives would be short and likely miserable. Few of us had any dreams. Or goals. Or hope.Yougave us a chance to live. To most of us, you are a god. A savior.”
As she walked back to her room to change into her training clothes, Isla repeated the words she had told herself in the Wildling newland woods. She was strong. She was the ruler of Wildling.
And the ruler of Starling.
Isla closed her wardrobe after getting a dress and froze.
In the mirror, there was Grim, standing in a full suit of armor. He held his helmet loosely in his hand. Ready for war.
She spun around and shot her arm out. A branch from the tree of her room snapped off, then sharpened into a blade. It stabbed right through the room.
But it was empty.
CINDER
Star Isle was in ruins. Its castle looked long abandoned. Towers lay in the sparkling silver dirt. Windows had been blown open. The pathways were covered in rocks and trash. Ciel and Avel flew above, circling so high up she had to squint to see them. Ella was at her side.
Maren, the Starling representative from the dinner, met them at the entrance of the crumbling castle. There was a little girl with her, with the same shining dark hair, wide eyes, and light-brown skin. “My cousin,” she said curtly. The cousin stared at Isla and opened her mouth to say something a few times, but Maren gave her a look, and the little girl went quiet. “They’re all in the throne room.”
“Is everyone all right?” Isla asked. The Sunling guards at the bridge hadn’t seen the rebels. There were Skylings in the rebel group—they must have flown in from another isle. Their motivations were a mystery. Why only target her? “Did the rebels ...”
“We’re safe. Thankfully, it seemed they were just recruiting. Or, perhaps, looking for something.”
She frowned. “Why do you think that?”
Maren raised a shoulder. “Why else venture through the crypts? They’re dangerous. All Starlings know that. No one goes inside them unless they’re desperate.”
When she walked into the castle, Isla’s stomach plummeted.
