Starsinger

Rivals

Sapphire felt the gryffin's shadow before she saw it.

Her back was pressed to the stone door of the holding chamber where she and Mason had stashed the king along with his watchdogs. She could hear them muttering quietly, trying to fathom the plan behind Jace's takeover, preparing to defend the king if the traitorous kyrsquad came to assassinate him.

But her eyes were fixed on the narrow window overlooking the city, watching the black wings circling lazily around the highest tower of the fortress.

Even from this distance, seeing the gryffin sent sensations rushing through Sapphire's mind – the sting of the salt in Ezra's nose, the wind clutching at Ezra's hair, the feathers gripped in Ezra's fingers. The memory made her nauseous.

It was a trap. The gryffin was moving too slowly, too conspicuously, flaunting its presence to the entire battlefield. Sapphire recognized a challenge when she saw one. I'm here, Ezra was saying. Come and get me.

Only a fool would fall for such a trick. Or someone foolishly brave.

Raelyn should be on the second wall, safe among the Apprentices, with Delia and Felicity. What would she do when she saw the fatemonger taunting her from the sky?

Sapphire clenched her jaw. Raelyn had nearly killed herself to awaken her powers. She wouldn't run from her destiny. She was strong. Stronger than Sapphire, anyway, who'd been running from who she was her entire life.

I'm not your rival, Rae. I'm your shield.

She was a scout, an Extra, a soldier with orders to stay here, guarding her king, hidden from the battle where she might do more harm than good. She was an unwanted child, a demon, maybe even a friend. Ten thousand identities and all of them constricting, weighing around her throat like a noose.

I'm your shield.

If she left Raelyn to face her destiny alone, she was no one.

Sapphire swore viciously. Checked again that the door to the king's holding chamber was locked. Prayed he'd be safe enough. Then she ran.

***

The thunder of two navies colliding beat against Raelyn's ears as she half-carried Tatiana from the Conservatory into the narrow streets of Aster.

"Take me to the third wall," the Queen instructed. "There's a command post."

"I'm taking you to the fortress." Unlike the Conservatory, the fortress had been built to withstand a military assault. It wouldn't crumble from the shock of cannonfire. They could find a safe room where Tatiana could rest.

"They need me on the wall," Tatiana argued. "You think your father knows how to fight with magic? Or gods forbid, Vance?"

If they're still the ones giving orders. Jace believed he could persuade his mentor and his king to accept the Apprentices of their own accord, only using force to take command as a last resort – but Raelyn wasn't convinced. Vance would never voluntarily choose to fight with mages, and her father trusted the First Strategist above all others.

"The Apprentices have Delia," she told her mother. "And you need to rest."

"I'll rest when the realm is safe."

A chill passed over them as a shadow flickered overhead. Raelyn glanced up. The gryffin was almost directly above them, sweeping around the top of the fortress in a wide arc.

She went cold. "Ezra."

Tatiana's eyes flew to her daughter's. "Who?"

Raelyn didn't respond. She ducked under the shelter of a nearby shopfront, but the gryffin didn't appear to notice them. It circled again, flashing its dark wings against the sun, then banked smoothly to land on the tower's highest terrace.

Ezra might as well have handed her an engraved invitation.

Tatiana watched her. "It's him, isn't it? The Shadow."

Raelyn's heart pounded in her chest. "Mother, we have to go."

"No, you have to go." The queen pulled away. Dizziness washed over her and she caught herself against the shop, gritting her teeth hard. "Leave me, Rae. I'll only slow you down. Go and find the Shadow. It's time."

It's time. The hope shining in Tatiana's eyes made Raelyn want to crumble. The Cycle was here, the prophecy was now. If she was ever going to become the Star, this was the time. She was supposed to be the hero.

Do heroes leave their mothers concussed on the side of the road?

The look in Tatiana's eyes said yes, said leave, said that everything she'd done, she'd done for Rae and this moment. Her eyes said Raelyn had to go, because it had to be worth it.

But Raelyn had made a promise, to a circle of people who never asked her to be anything but what she was. No heroes.

Maybe the Star would leave Tatiana behind, but Raelyn wouldn't.

"Get up." She pulled her mother's arm around her shoulders despite her protests. Back into the street, trudging towards the fortress, towards safety.

"You have to go," Tatiana insisted.

"Not yet." Raelyn spared one more glance for the tower where the gryffin now roosted. She'd make sure Tatiana was safe, she'd find her team, and then she'd face the Shadow. I'm coming for you, Ezra. And I'm coming on my terms.