Evadne slipped away. She slowly ascended the stairs to the upper floor, following the corridor to her bedroom.
She entered her chamber, closing the door behind her. It was dark; her oil lamp must have burned out. Evadne crossed the room to reach her lamp stand, feeling her way with her bare feet until she discovered the floor was damp. She halted, staring at the window, the shutters drifting back and forth in a gust of storm, and she knew that she had bolted them before supper.
She sensed it then. Someone in the room, watching her in the darkness. She could hear them breathe, a rasp trying to hide in the patter of rain.
Her dagger was on the shelf, a few paces away, and Evadne lunged to it, her right ankle smarting with the sudden movement. But a shadow peeled itself free from the darkness, intercepting her. A cold hand gripped Evadne’s wrist, drawing her about to face them. Evadne gasped, filling her lungs to scream, but the hand flickered to cover her mouth like a seal. There was a gentle strength in their grip, a hesitation that made Evadne realize . . . the stranger was not going to harm her but wanted her quiet.
“Evadne.” A girl spoke, her voice breaking on the sound, like a wave on a rock.
Evadne did not move, not even as the hand lowered from her mouth. She could not see the intruder’s face, but she suddenly sensed her presence . . . tall and lean, the scent of metal and rain on her skin, the familiar cadence of her voice, one that had lived only in Evadne’s dreams and memories the past eight years.
“Evadne,” the girl whispered again. “It is me. Your sister, Halcyon.”
II
Evadne
Halcyon?” Evadne tentatively reached out, her fingertips meeting an array of cold scales. Scales like a serpent. A monster. Startled, she brought her hands back, and then she realized it was only Halcyon’s armor. She yearned to see her sister’s face, but the darkness shielded her. “What are you doing here? When did you arrive? We were expecting you tomorrow night!”
“Evadne,” Halcyon said again, and the sound was heavy, reluctant.
Evadne’s excitement waned.
Something was wrong.
“I realize I have come a day early,” Halcyon began. “And I am sorry to have surprised you tonight, but I wanted to see you first.”
“Let me light the lamp,” Evadne said, reaching for Halcyon’s hand. “Come, sit on the bed.”
This room had once belonged to them both. And Halcyon still had it memorized, Evadne realized, as she effortlessly located the bed in the darkness. Evadne fumbled to find her lamp stand, lighting it with her ember stone. She was trembling when she finally turned to behold her sister.
Halcyon was beautiful.
Her skin was tanned from her days training in the sun, and her raven hair brushed the tops of her shoulders, glistening from the rain. Her face was still perfect, her cheekbones more pronounced now, but her eyes were the same shade of honey, framed by long lashes, and her brows were still arched and elegant. Her arms were corded with muscle and speckled with little scars, but the scars were not unsightly. They were as Uncle Nico had said: marks of her achievement, a testament to her training and her prowess with sword and spear and shield. She was a hoplite in the Queen’s Army, a member of the Bronze Legion now.
And if the scars on her arms were not enough, her raiment proclaimed exactly who she was.
Her chiton was dyed bright red, the color of the army, and was tailored the length of her thighs, resting beneath her armor’s hard linen pleats. Her cuirass was made of bronze scales, its two yokes coming over her shoulders to tie at the front. The straps were painted with the entwined serpents that represented Nikomides, the god of war, symbols to guard Halcyon’s front and back in battle. Her sandal straps crosshatched their way up her calves, knotting just beneath her knees.
Halcyon was foreign to Evadne in this armor, in these clothes. A stranger.
And Evadne knelt before her, awed and proud of who Halcyon had become. Halcyon, her sister, the girl who was swift and strong. The girl who had ascended.
Halcyon smiled and leaned forward to frame Evadne’s face in her hands.
“Ah, look at you, Sister,” Halcyon whispered. “You are so beautiful. And this hair! Just like father’s.” She touched the unruly brown waves. “How I have missed you, Eva. I have missed you every day since I left.”
“As