argue either, and stalks away from
our corner of the clearing. The others in the yard watch her go, their
eyes following her as she defies the lightning girl, but I don’t care a bit
for what they might think. I’m not their captain, I’m not their queen.
I’m not better or worse than any of them, and it’s time they started to
see me as I am. Another newblood, another fighter, and nothing more.
“Kilorn’s got some rabbit,” Lory says, if only to break the silence.
She sniffs at the air and licks her lips in a manner that would make Lady
Blonos screech. “Juicy ones too.”
“Go on, then,” I mutter, waving my hand to the cook fire on the
other side of the clearing. She doesn’t need to be told twice.
“Cal’s in a mood, by the way,” she adds as she flounces past. “Or at
least, he keeps cursing and kicking things.”
One glance tells me Cal is not outside. For a second, I’m surprised,
then I remember. Lory hears almost everything, if she stops to listen.
“I’ll see to him,” I tell her, and set a quick pace. She tries to follow, then thinks better of it, and lets me rush on ahead. I don’t bother to hide my
concern—Cal is not quick to anger, and planning calms him, makes
him happy even. So whatever has him in a twist has me worried too, far more than I should be on the eve of our raid.
The Notch is all but empty, with everyone outside training. Even
the children have gone to watch their elders learn to brawl, shoot, and
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control their abilities. I’m glad they’re not underfoot, pulling at my
hands, pestering me with silly questions about their hero, the exiled
prince. I don’t have the patience for children like Cal does.
As I round a corner, I almost run headfirst into my brother, coming
from the direction of the bedchambers. Farley follows him, smirking
to herself, but it disappears the second she spots me. Oh.
“Mare,” she mutters in greeting. She doesn’t stop and marches past.
Shade tries to do the same, but I put out an arm to stop him cold.
“Can I help you with something?” he asks. His lips twitch, fighting
a losing battle against a wretched, playful grin.
I try to look cross with him, if only to keep up appearances. “You’re
supposed to be training.”
“Worried I’m not getting enough exercise? I assure you, Mare,” he
says, winking, “we are.”
It makes sense. Farley and Shade have been inseparable for a long
while. Still, I gasp aloud, and swat his arm. “Shade Barrow!”
“Oh, come on, everyone knows. Not my fault you didn’t figure it
out.”
“You could’ve told me,” I sputter, grasping for something to scold
him over.
He only shrugs, still grinning. “Like you tell me all about Cal?”
“That’s—” Different, I want to say. We’re not sneaking off in the
middle of the day, or even doing much of anything at night. But Shade
holds up a hand, stopping me.
“If it’s all the same to you, I really don’t want to know,” he says.
“And if you’ll excuse me, I think I have some training to do, as you so
kindly pointed out.”
He retreats, palms outward, like a man surrendering a battle. I let
him go, dismissing him with a wave while I fight a smile of my own.
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A tiny blossom of happiness sparks in my chest, a foreign feeling in so
many days of despair. I protect it as I would a candle flame, trying to
keep it alive and alight. But the sight of Cal quickly snuffs it out.
He’s in our room, seated on an upturned crate, with a familiar
paper spread across his knees. It’s the back of one of the Colonel’s maps,
now covered in painstakingly drawn lines. A map of Corros Prison,
or at least as much of it as Cameron could remember. I expect to see
the edges of the paper smoking, but he keeps his fire contained to the
charred dip in the floor. It casts a dancing red light that must be hard to
read by, but Cal squints through it. In the corner of the room, my pack
lies undisturbed, full of Maven’s haunting notes.
Slowly, I pull up another crate, and sink down beside him. He
doesn’t seem to notice, but I know he must. Nothing escapes his sol-
dier’s sense. When my shoulder bumps his, he doesn’t raise his eyes from
the map, but his hand slips to my leg, drawing me into his warmth. He
doesn’t loosen his