Page 82 of Of Glass and Ashes

When the doorknob turns, though, it’s Mel’s gentle hands maneuvering it. She sits at my desk, her face far graver than any eight-year-old’s has the right to be, and scratches out a quick note.

It’s not her fault.

“That won’t matter,” I say bitterly. “It won’t save her any more than it did Rose.”

The weeks go by, and the new girl is excelling at her training. I see the way Madame’s eyes glint when she appraises her, already calculating the various unseemly ways she could be useful.

I find the girl sitting on the rails of the balcony, unconcerned with the way she towers above the churning sea and jagged rocks below. Would that be a quick death, I wonder, kinder than the one Madame gave Rose?

“Girl,” I call softly so I don’t startle her into falling. “It’s not too late to leave, you know. You could find a different home.”

She startles me, springing backward with lightning speed and kicking my feet out from under me. I’m about to flip her when I feel the cold steel of a blade at my throat.

She isn’t as skilled as I am, not yet, but the tiny girl has overpowered me with the sheer force of her nerve.

“This is my home now. And my name is Aika.” Tears sparkle in her eyes, something I haven’t seen in the worst, most painful moments of our training.

And I realize that even if it winds up being the death of us both, I can no sooner keep myself from caring about this girl than I could waltz off and leave Mel.

“All right,” I say softly. “Aika, then.”

Helga’s questions sound in my head again, but this time I hear them differently.

I think about the way I walked willingly to that dragon’s cave, ready to accept my fate.

Then I think about Aika. Madame aptly named her when she called her “The Flame.” She is untamable, relentless, and incapable of backing down.

“She’s not like me,” I tell Helga.

For the first time since my sister left the ballroom, I take a full, deep breath, because I knew who Aika was far before she learned to wield a weapon.

“Sheisa fighter.” Now, we just need to make her understand who the enemy truly is.

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