Page 65 of Twins for the Barbarians

I don’t know how devastated I am about this. If he designed the cure, then surely he’d have notes about it somewhere. I refuse to let this development spoil our victory. I refuse to let his destructive behavior darken my hopes for the future, so I shake my head slowly and give Sarin a soft smile.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. We’re working with some of the brightest minds currently on Sunna to develop a cure. Solomon may have accidentally destroyed the last of his stash, but his research will help us reproduce it. I’m sure of it.”

Neya seems to agree. “We’ll show you to all of his secret chambers. He had about a dozen of them in the palace, hidden behind bookshelves and fake walls.”

“A proud and meticulous man like Solomon would’ve surely kept notes on every success,” Kharo surmises. “Sooner or later, we’ll develop a cure. We’re closer to it now than we ever were before, and that’s all we need to know before we make our way back to Sapphire City.”

“What about us?” Leela asks with a worried frown.

Ozymand clears his throat. “As I’ve said before, the Fire Tribe won’t force you to accept our leadership. Should you wish to govern yourselves, you should do so. If anything, we’ll do everything in our power to protect you.”

“We’ll have to think about it,” Sarin replies. “Truth be told, we’re still confused about everything that happened. It’s been a lie, all of it.”

“But you don’t have to pay for Solomon’s sins,” I insist. “Sarin, you were victims of his deceit, much like everyone else. You thought you were doing the right thing. You thought you were protecting your city and your peace.”

Neya stands up. “Given your kindness despite the egregious way in which we treated you, I suppose you deserve to know something. Leela mentioned something about the top of the volcano, but she’s too young. She never saw for herself.”

“What, exactly?” I ask, my interest piqued since I do know what she’s talking about.

“First, promise me the Fire Tribe will keep their word. Our autonomy and their protection against any future invasions, at least until a cure for the plague is brought forth and peace is restored on Sunna,” she says.

Ozymand nods firmly. “You have my promise and my oath,” he says, then takes out a knife and cuts his palm, letting the blood drip into the dirt at his feet. “My blood oath, the most sacred.”

“Thank you,” Neya says. “The cure was delivered through Sunna’s fire. There’s a pool of it at the top of this volcano, a seemingly endless stream that bubbles from down below. We’re not sure of its source, but we know of its remarkable properties. Sarin has had more experience with it since she actually drank the cure, as did our parents. I wasn’t born yet, but she took me to see it for myself a few years back. I’d like to take you up there, as well.”

“You can take some back with you,” Sarin offers. “It should help with designing the cure. Solomon said it was instrumental in its development, not just in its delivery. I never understood the technical terms, but I did remember how important it was to him. No one was ever allowed to get close to the top of the volcano.”

“We’ve heard so many tales about Sunna’s inner fire,” I say. “As I may have mentioned before, our friend Cynthia came upon one such stream a few years ago. We haven’t found another since. It would be amazing if we could take some samples back with us.”

And when we have the cure, we’ll come up here again and draw as much as we need so that every single Sunnaite woman and girl left alive will be given the best version of the cure. Only then will Sunna be able to rebuild itself.

Stronger. Better. Kinder than before.

31

Alicia

“How are you feeling?” Helios asks me as we sit on the edge of a massive pool of Sunna’s inner fire.

I can’t take my eyes off it. It’s insanely hot up here since plenty of lava moves through the mountain below, but I love the steam that rises and tickles my face. I watch as Ozymand and the other Kreek fighters fill their flasks with the bright orange liquid, well aware of how happy Cynthia will be when we return to Sapphire City with so much of this good stuff. She’ll have enough to test and analyze until she can understand precisely which of its properties make it so extraordinary.

Whether it’s a question of biology or pure magic, I don’t know. I don’t think it matters, either.

“I’m okay, I think. A little lightheaded, but that’s to be expected,” I tell Helios.

He puts an arm around my shoulder and holds me close while Kharo sits with Solomon’s wives, watching over the Kreek soldiers. The orange glow casts long shadows behind us—and I can’t think of a better metaphor for this particular moment. The darkness is behind us, but the light shines brightly ahead. For the first time since my friends and I were brought to this planet, we have hope, more hope than we ever had before, the kind of hope that will fuel us in the battles to come.

Without a cure, we won’t be able to convince the Sky Tribe to abandon their quest for Earth. But we are one step closer, and it’s more than I could’ve imagined when I first embarked on this journey. The people of Opal City will have some soul-searching to do as they adjust to reality, as they learn the truth and understand what Solomon did. But I do appreciate the Kreek clan’s decision to give them the freedom to choose their own ruler.

Maybe they’ll rejoin the kingdom once it’s reunited and rebuilt, once the concepts of Sky Tribe and Fire Tribe are gone, merely a shadow of a troubled past. Or maybe they’ll remain independent. It’s good that they have the option. It already signals a great shift in the mindset of the Fire Tribe. Perhaps a cure will help do the same for the Sky Tribe, and then my home planet will be safe.

“Looking back now, there are so many things that make sense,” Sarin says. “Lies I suspected, little tidbits that slipped through the cracks, mishaps Solomon couldn’t explain.”

“We did have questions, you know,” Neya tells us. “We did ask him. But he would always have a rushed answer, an explanation we bought at the moment. As the years went by, however, we saw that our people were thriving, and we had peace and prosperity. We didn’t wish to disturb that.”

“I completely understand,” I say. “I probably would’ve done the same if I’d been in your shoes. I suppose you loved Solomon deeply, too.”

The wives exchange doubtful glances, but Leela speaks first. “I don’t know how much of it was love and how much was simple devotion—blindness, perhaps—but I never felt a bond with Solomon.”

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