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“Don’t think I’m obligated to show you respect just because we’re allies in this fight,” I say. “My respect is something that must be earned.”

***

EILISH

Mercenary Stronghold

I sit beside Aima as a mage tends to her injuries. She’s been through a lot—possibly more than any of us could ever fathom—but she holds strong and I admire her for it. Someone like Aima should be in my place, leading a rebellion and shaping the fate of the world.

“How do you do it?” I ask.

She turns to face me. “Do what?”

“How do you hold on to so much pain and show nothing but courage?”

“I wasn’t always brave, Eilish.” Aima turns her head and plucks at a loose thread on the sheets. “When my sister was alive, I was meek and obedient. My heart was my biggest weakness, and I failed to see that for so many years. The Unseelie women of noble blood are taught at a young age to cut off our emotions. I was different. I was the only one in my family without magic... and I was happy.”

“What happened to your sister?”

“She and I were close, despite our differences,” Aima sighs. “But she had a cold brutality to her that I could never duplicate, nor understand. Her magical talent seemed unrivalled in Oronrel. And that was what attracted Morrigan’s attention. The Midnight Queen knew my sister was powerful, but that she would never submit. In the end, we were summoned before the king and she was held down, rendered helpless while Morrigan siphoned the magic from her blood.”

“I’m so sorry, Aima.”

“So am I,” she replies quietly. “Your sister was still young at the time of her death, right?”

I nod and chew my bottom lip. It takes me a while to summon the courage to discuss Solya. We walk past the gates and out onto the flat expansion of land beyond them.

“I need time to think,” I tell her, “and I can't do that with all of them hovering over me all the time.”

Aima doesn't argue. “Their resentment for Cambion will only hinder our mission. We need to find a way to get them to trust him again, or Morrigan will win. A united front is the only way to beat her.”

She’s right, of course. Aima and I may have had our differences in the past, but now I’m glad to consider her a friend.

“I agree. We have to resolve this rift between Cambion and the others.”

“You’re the key to that rift,” Aima says.

I nod. “I was angry with Cambion at first. I still am, but I also understand he had his reasons, such that everyone does. If I can forgive him, I believe everyone should be able to forgive him.”

Aima laughs. “Unfortunately, men are not so simply swayed. And your… friends are among the most stubborn of the stubborn.”

“They will come around. Dragan is already on his way.”

“And Baron?”

“Will take some more convincing,” I finish for her with a smile.

“I’m glad you don’t hate Cambion,” she says softly. “I’m glad you can recognize he isn’t the same man he used to be.”

We reach a large plateau, and it seems as though the sky is much bigger here than it is beyond the walls. Just barren wasteland and stars for miles and miles.

“Cambion and I haven’t spent much time together since his arrival, but I can see the changes in him.”

“Actually, he isn’t so different,” Aima replies with a shrug. “Not really. He’s just returning to the Cambion I knew as a child—the real Cambion. The great battle turned him into a bitter king who was overcome with anger, but I always wondered if the real Cambion was still hiding in there somewhere.”

After a few minutes, we begin our walk back to the stronghold. The streets of the city within the walls are quiet at night. Even the guards who patrol the area do so silently. Aima and I head to her tent, where she removes her tattered clothing. I give her a folded pile of new clothing. The tunic of which bears the symbol of our rebellion on the back.

When I turn to leave, Aima stops me. “I need your help with something, Eilish.”