But all of them remembered. They masked it well—polished smiles, nods heavy with courtesy—but their eyes flicked too often to the mark at my throat. Eryndis’s forbidden sigil.
They remembered what I had been before the rebellion. The sword in Eryndis’ hand. And the shield at her back.
We made our way through the winding paths, past the amphitheaters carved into cliffside ledges, past schools where music drifted into the air. I watched as children darted through alleyways, laughter echoing.
This was the city I had bled for. The one I had tried to save. And failed.
We reached the base of the cliffside stairs that would take us to the castle. The nobles began to ascend. I lingered at the foot of the steps a moment longer.
From here, the whole of Nyxarra stretched outward. A city alive with old magic and older grief. I could feel it humming underfoot. Like its true heart was still trying to beat.
When I returned to my chambers, Santiago was already there,leaning against the wall beside the door, arms crossed with a grin across his face.
“Lysara said you may have something I could wear this evening... to the ball,” he said casually.
I stared at him. “Did she now?”
“She also said that if you said no, I was to tell you—‘He’s attending as my date. Don’t make me look like a fool.’” His grin widened as he raised both hands in mock innocence. “Her words. Not mine.”
That earned a quiet huff of amusement from me. “You know you’re only free because Kaelith needs Aurelia to remain alive and uninjured…”
Santi’s smile faltered for a moment, and I didn’t press. I would not be the one to take the hope from his face?—
hope will call anything freedom if it lets you breathe a little longer.
“Her date, you say?”
Santiago smiled, triumphant in the way only someone with nothing left to lose could be.
“I asked her just fifteen minutes ago.”
“You asked her with nothing to wear but… that?” I gestured to the threadbare tunic and plain trousers hanging off his frame. The neckline was fraying, and the color had long since faded—washed into some shade between ash and burnt bread. “Ah yes, well.” He gestured down at himself. “I knew what I wanted. Figured I’d sort the rest out later.” He laughed. “Besides, it’s quite romantic, don’t you think?”
I stepped aside and opened the door. “Sure. Come in.”
He walked in like he owned the place, eyes roaming over the weapons mounted on the walls and the rows of books stacked with military precision.
“I’ve never been in your room before,” he said, surveying the space with his hands on his hips.
“And why would you have been?” I replied, already regretting this.
Santiago wandered toward the armoire while I pulled off my overcoat and unfastened the top buttons of my shirt. I tossed him a spare set of formalwear—dark charcoal tunic with silver embroidery and a deep navy cloak that mirrored the mist at dusk. It didn’t hang off him the way I expected. He’d filled back out since leaving the cells—broad enough now that the lines of the tunic could pass for tailored.
“Last time I wore something this fine, I was at my father’s estate,” he said, holding the fabric up. “Celebration of the extinction of the Moirae line.”
That stopped me mid-motion. “What?”
He was quiet for a beat, then gave a small, humorless shrug. “They’d tested Aurelia and Aeryn. Said there was nothing special about them. No power. No blessings. Just... human.”
I turned slowly. “Tested? How?”
“I was young,” he said, his voice lower. “But I heard rumors. They strapped her down just before the patron ceremony. Pushed her as far as they could without killing her. You know how blessings tend to show around the threshold years, especially when emotions run high. They expected something. Anything. But she didn’t break. Didn’t flare. Just... took it.”
I clenched my jaw.
“They took one look at Aeryn, called him fragile of mind,necrotic, and assumed the same for him. In Synnex, necrosis marked you as cursed. Touched by some unseen rot. People feared it like a plague.”
“When her parents were executed, they celebrated. Saidthey’d wiped out the bloodline. That letting the siblings live was mercy.”