Page 119 of A Fate Unwoven

Lena had been fully prepared for Maia to blame her. To shout and cry and tell Lena she should have trusted her and Finæn to help. But Maia had simply wrapped her arms around her, voice thick with tears, and said, “It isn’t your fault.”

Now, as she stood staring at the ocean from that same hilltop, Lena tried to believe her. To believe that there was nothing more she could have done. But she knew it wasn’t true. If she’d been strong enough to withstand the first Fateweaver’s spirit inside her, to wield Venysa’s power as her own, instead of severing the bond between them, maybe she’d have been strong enough to bring Finæn back. And even though doing so would have turned her into the very monster she’d fought so hard not to become, Lena knew she would have done it. Knew that in that way, at least, she and Venysa were not so different, after all.

It was strange not to be able to feel Venysa’s presence. The Fateweaver’s magic was still there, a steady hum beneath her skin, but there was no whisper of Venysa’s voice. Lena had expected the impulse to bend the threads of fate to her will to disappear with the first Fateweaver’s spirit, and whilst itwaseasier to ignore than before, the urge itself was still there.

She’d freed herself of the bond. Of Venysa. But not of the darkness that had been born from Venysa’s abuse of the Fateweaver’s power. What she’d done, making a deal with Næbya, becoming the Furybringer and creating theHæsta,had irrevocably changed the very fabric of her magic. And now there were only two others powerful enough to undo what Venysa and Næbya had done.

The Lost Sisters.

Lena didn’t know if the vision she’d seen of them had been sent by the Sisters themselves or if it had been one of Næbya’s memoriesseeping through her link to Lena. What shedidknow was that if there was any place she might find an idea of where to start looking for them, it was in the original Raven’s research.

I’m going to find them, Mada,Lena thought, looking up at the slowly lightening sky,and when I do, I’m going to get them to make this world everything you hoped it could be.

Her moment of solace was interrupted by the soft press of footsteps as Dimas came to stand beside her.

Dressed in a simple tunic and cloak, his hair no longer slicked back, he looked … younger. Less severe. There were dark circles beneath his eyes that refused to fade. Like her, he was still dealing with his grief; Brother Dunstan and the general were dead, and whilst Roston, Iska, and Milos had betrayed him, they were still his family. In losing them, Dimas had lost everything he’d ever wanted. His crown. His empire.

His Fateweaver.

Lena swallowed her guilt. It wasn’t her fault the church, under Milos’s orders, had branded them both heretics and put a price on their heads. Nor was it her fault that their only option was to sail to Verlond to meet with Casimir’s queen and hope she could help them prove their innocence and free Wyrecia from a religion based on lies.

They stood silently for a moment, staring out at the same sky, watching the sun rise above the horizon. And then, when the sun was high enough in the sky to bathe the hilltop in a soft, hazy light, the emperor said, “It’s time.”

Lena nodded. She’d lingered here long enough. She didn’t know what awaited them in Verlond. But there was one thing she was certain of.

Everyone had a story to tell.

And this was not the end of hers.

EPILOGUE

She was dying.

Every breath she took felt like glass in her lungs. There was a crushing weight on her chest, suffocating her, stealing what little strength she had left. She couldn’t feel her legs. Couldn’t feel anything beside that weight and the excruciating pain in her chest.

Darkness pulled at her, gentle fingers coaxing her into its depths. All she needed to do was let go, and the pain would end. There would be no more suffering. No more fighting for a fate that hadn’t been written.

She was just about to give in, to let the darkness take her, when a powerful voice echoed through her mind.

It’s time to wake up, Iska,it said.We have work to do.