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I watched their exchange, noting the undercurrent of tension beneath their banter. "What was it like?" I asked. "Your ceremonies?"

Vexa's smile faded slightly. She sat up. "Different. There were more candidates then. The drought hadn't spread so far, and people still believed..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

"Believed what?"

"That joining the Umbra meant glory," Effie said quietly. "Not just survival."

Silence settled over us, heavy with unspoken weight. Effie's hands stilled on my shoulder, and for a moment, I saw past her affected manner to something deeper.

"I sacrificed my family crest," she said finally. "Generations of Eirfalk nobility, condensed into a single medallion."

"But you don't regret it?" I asked, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

A soft smile played at her lips as she glanced at Vexa. "Never."

"My sacrifice was simpler," Vexa said, standing to join us. "My first forging hammer. Illegal work or not, it kept me alive when nothing else would." She shrugged, but I saw how her fingers tightened on her arm.

Three sharp knocks cut through the moment. The door opened before anyone could respond, revealing Aether's broad frame. He'd worn the sleeveless leathers today, the ones that showed his void burns in full glory, which seemed unusually dark against his skin, almost breathing in the dim light. In his hands, he held something that made my breath catch—my emerald dagger, the one I had been given when I joined the Guard.

Vexa straightened, her eyes fixed on the blade. "Pretty," she breathed, professional appreciation warring with something else in her voice.

"Your sacrifice," Aether said, his golden eyes meeting mine for the first time since that day in training. Since I'd seen the woman in his head.

The emeralds caught the light, their color a painful reminder ofother eyes I tried not to think about. This dagger had marked my beginning in the Guard, my pledge to protect Sídhe.

Effie's hands fell away from my shoulders. "Well," she said, her voice artificially bright. "I suppose it's time."

"Are you ready?" Aether asked, his voice low and steady. His fingers lingered on mine for a beat too long as I took it from him, their warmth sending shivers up my arm. The dagger felt familiar in my hand, the weight a reminder of the day I’d received it at an entirely different ceremony.

"Well, don't just stand there looking tragic," Effie said, breaking through my thoughts. "We have a ceremony to attend." But there was something gentle in her tone, something almost like understanding.

Vexa moved to the door. "The Vördr will be waiting." She paused, looking back at me. "Remember what we said about the gates. Don't hesitate when you step through."

I nodded.

"Come," Aether said, his golden eyes unreadable in the dim light. "It's time."

I gripped the dagger tighter and followed him into the corridor, where the real weight of what I was about to do finally began to sink in.

The hall stretched ahead, lit by flickering torches that cast long shadows against the stone walls. I followed Aether in silence until we reached the outer doors.

"Shouldn't you be with Lael?" I asked, remembering how young he'd looked during training. "He must be nervous."

"I’m going to him." Aether didn't slow his pace. "After I drop you off."

The gray twilight enveloped us as we crossed to the stables. Nihr waited near the entrance, her dark form massive against the ashen sky. Aether lifted me onto her back, his touch brief andimpersonal. And then he was behind me, keeping that careful distance between us.

"What if I'm not what they need?" The words slipped out before I could stop them. "This realm has suffered so much already. If I fail them?—"

"You won't." His voice was quiet but certain.

"You can't know that."

"I've watched you since the moment you arrived." Though he kept his distance, something in his tone had shifted. "You could have chosen the easier path. Could have denied everything about who you are. But instead, you're here."

"Being here and being what they need are different things."

As Nihr took to the sky, the fortress fell away beneath us. The unchanging gray stretched in every direction, broken only by ancient stone structures emerging from the wasteland. In the distance, a massive hillside rose from the earth.