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New, lacerating pain blooms on my face, near my left eye. My hand moves from my stomach to cup the area above my cheekbone, and I put pressure on a wound that doesn’t exist.

Not on me at least.

Please, please, Memnon, answer me, I beg.

Roxi?he says, his voice dazed and sluggish.Wha?—

His voice morphs into a bellowed cry as the pain moves, dragging across his face, all the way to his ear. I feel the echo of it, so sharp that bile rises. It feels as though it’s carving into the very bones of my face, and I bite my lower lip until it bleeds, just to keep from screaming or retching. It’s all I can do to breathe through the pain—pain that must be a shadow of Memnon’s.

What is going on?I force out the words.

Battle…struck down, he gasps out.Dacian king above me trying to…my face…

Memnon begins to scream again as the pain drags down his face to his jawline. All of this is in addition to that deep, gaping ache in his abdomen.

Over his pain, my own panic surges, stirring the magic in my veins.

Memnon!I am frantic, helpless.

I think that maybe my beloved friend is—isdying.

My breath comes faster and faster at the prospect of his life ending, of my mind being my own once more. No more sporadic commentary, no more chats, no more warmth and kindness from the only person in the world who I care about—and who cares about me.

Gods, but I cannot lose him.

I cannot.

Iwon’t.

Since my magic Awoke, I’ve used it sparingly. I have a lot of fear of it and little control over it. But now, instinct guides me.

At my beckoning, my power thickens in my veins, burgeoning within me until it strains against my skin, eager to be unleashed.

You are the only thing that matters to me in this godsforsaken world.The confession burns coming out, but it doesn’t matter. There is iron in my soul.I won’t let you die, Memnon. Not today.I’ve never spoken like this—not to another living soul—but I can still hear his screams, and rational thought has fled my mind. Fear and determination crowd out everything else in me.

I gather my magic and lead it to that point beneath my sternum. If there were any place where Memnon’s essence meets my own, it would be right here, so very close to where my heart lies trapped within the cage of my bones.

I focus on that point of connection and then I flood it with my power.

Use my magic, Memnon, I command, shoving it out to him the same way I do my thoughts.It is yours.

From the other end of my connection, I feel a dull tug on my magic that must be Memnon.

No sooner than he has drawn on it, however, than I hear Memnon’s roar ringing in my mind. Light bursts behind my eyes, and then dimly, I sense another’s magic mingling with my own.

Memnon’s, I realize. Somehow, in his moment of need, his magic Awoke, just as mine had.

Roxilana, your power, he says wondrously,it brought mine forth!

I press the back of my hand to my mouth to smother my relieved sob. Tears begin to spill down my cheeks.

Through our bond, I sense Memnon’s strength returning, even as I continue funneling my magic to him. The phantompains in my abdomen fade away, though the throb in my face only dulls a little. He must…he must be healing it all.

I exhale, relieved he intuitively knows how to do such a thing.

The enemy king…is no more,he says.

My stomach twists at the admission, and I hear what Memnon doesn’t say—that he was the one who killed him.