The stranger nods. He leaves. Then, a few hours later, a piece of bread falls from a great height, right through the hole, and nearly hits me on the head.
The stranger remains true to his word. He comes back several times, with food, water, and notes from Enya. He even returns with pastries made by Agnes, along with a pile of her expertly knitted blankets. We speak through the hole in the ceiling.
His name is Zed. He’s a Skyling orphan. He is a self-proclaimed expert thief. He says he can steal anything.
“Even the king’s son?” I say.
“You want me to kidnap your brother?” he says, incredulous.
“No,” I reply. “Not my brother.”
He gets my meaning.
The next day, he throws a stolen Starling ball of energy through the hole, and I take cover as it blows out the entire top of the cell.
Yells commence.
But by the time the warden gets to my cell, we are already far into the clouds.
And our group of friends is complete.
HOLLOW
If my father had spent more time preparing for war, and less on sending his armies off to explore faraway places, he might have survived its final battle.
Theybothmight have survived it.
We always knew Nightshade would try to take over Lightlark. Yet instead of fortifying our armies ... instead of protecting what we had ... my father sent his guards out looking for more. We were down hundreds of soldiers when they first attacked. In the years since ... we lost thousands more.
The war was won by the skin of our teeth. But not before my parents were both cut down, by the ruler of Nightshade.
This doesn’t feel like winning. Not at all.
My hands shake as I lower the last of the golden roses onto my mother’s pyre. As soon as she died, the plant died with her, as if in mourning. Agnes, who was my mother’s guardian before my brother’s, carefully collected the ones that were left.
This can’t be real, I think, but it is. Egan stands next to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, and I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a comforting gesture, or to stop my trembling. My armor is clattering for how hard I’m shaking with rage.
They’re dead.
Our parents are dead.
Zed crashes down next to me. His own expression is severe. Heloved my mother. In the time since we met, she treated him as if he was her own son.
Enya’s cries are muffled behind me, her face buried in Calder’s shoulder. Her mother lies next to mine on a pyre of her own. Best friends. Side by side, until the end. My brother steps forward with fire in his palm. He throws it onto their bodies.
Together, they burn. They all burn.
The fire burns brightly, fiercely, just like they did in their final moments.
I can’t move. My body, mind, and heart are stuck in this moment. The pain swallows everything. If I move, I think, then this will be all the more real. I don’t know how time is expected to creep forward, but it does.
Then, they’re gone.
Nothing remains but smoke and ash.
By the time I find the strength to turn around, everyone, including my friends, is on their knees. They’re facing Egan.
He’s king now.
