“Grandfather.”

Cadby Creed had known this moment would come. Cerid stood at the edge of the stacks, arms folded behind his back and face partially obscured in shadow.

“Uncle Cerid!” Calla bounced up to him and hugged his legs. “Come read with us?”

“I am afraid not.” Usually, Cerid would cajole her somehow. He’d offer to play another time, say something sweet to spoil her. But not today. “Run along, Calla. Your uncle needs a moment alone with your grandfather.”

She looked uncertain, the tenseness of the situation not escaping her. “Uncle…?”

“Now.” Cerid’s voice was harsh. Calla flinched, grabbing onto her skirts and fleeing the room.

“That’s not like you, Cerid,” Cadby commented with a frown. “What’s the matter?”

“You are going to tell me what you know,” Cerid hissed. “You are going to tell me how long you have known it and why in the name of the Gods you did not tell me or anyone else!”

Cadby could tell it was taking everything in Cerid not to scream at the top of his lungs. His hands were clenched into fists; all his being radiated seething anger.

“Dorothea would not have risked coming back to Sacer unless she was searching for specific proof of what I now know. What you said in the library that day… You knew all along, didn’t you? You were simply too much of a coaward to tell the truth when you had the opportunity!”

“I… I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you why.”

Six years ago, Sharee Nobelis had approached Cinder Creed with a certain plan. What possessed that woman to make the suggestion in the first place was what Cadby had never been able to get out of his head.

He’d overheard them that day, having been on his way to the library. It was a completely conincidental disruption in his usual schedule at a strange time of night where Cinder would have normally been correct to assume no one would be around.

“My son,” Sharee had gasped, “just killed a baby out there. My sweet Rhys looked at me with these empty, confused eyes, Cinder, and the way I looked at him isn’t something he’s ever going to forget! Do you understand?!”

“He’s one of the best and brightest soldiers in this nation, Sharee. What would you have me do?” Cinder asked calmly. He almost sounded bored, but Cadby only picked up on that because he knew his son so well. Or he thought he did, until this moment.

“End this! End this struggle between Sacer and Ghuria, and listen to me when I tell you exactly how we’re going to accomplish it.” She said it so fiercely that Cadby took a step back in the hall.

So she described her idea, and that was what they did.

“My children will never have to kill again,” Sharee had concluded that day. “None of our children will ever take life on the battlefield again, nor will they risk themselves. We can spare their humanity. Give me leave to do this.”

But here they still were. Ghuria had not fallen. Its people had struggled this long, and now they were defying Sacer with the chance to win thanks in part to Dorothea Atlin’s help.

Had Cinder ever told Iree Nobelis the exact reason why her mother had sacrificed herself? Sharee’s daughter had been on the warpath ever since, going directly against what she’d died for.

“You have to understand, Cerid. If I revealed the truth… What would happen to me. And revealing my son’s actions, what may have happened to him… We’ve lost so much of this family already.” Cadby gazed at his grandson with helpless misery. “What would you have me do?”

“You—you spineless…!” Cerid seethed, stopping himself and putting a hand over his face. “But I am no different from my father, and just as self-serving as Sharee and Iree Nobelis…” He dropped his hand and put it on his hip. “I will be ending this, Grandfather, no matter what it takes. Will you be there for me if I have need of you, or do you intend to reveal me to my father?”

Cadby smiled. It was lucky his grandson hadn’t taken after him. “What can I do for you?”

“Listen well…”

*

The cards were stacked against Iree, but that only meant it was time to rise to the occasion, not cower. As always, she’d turn her circumstances into opportunity.

“There’s very little I can do to help you this time,” Cinder told her. “The rest of the council is unanimously in favor of your dismissal.”

“That means Cerid’s promotion.” She put both hands flat against his desk and leaned over it to capture his attention and make her point. “And that would be a complete disaster.”

He arched a brow. “Oh?”

“He’s plotting to help make the truce happen, mark my words.”

“Cerid knows his goal can’t be accomplished if he doesn’t end Ghuria first. He would never abandon the war effort.”

“Oh, please. Atlin’s best friend is dating your son. You know, the same Atlin that manipulated Rhys over to her side and got the Bittersweet Nightshade-user to listen to her too? You really think she couldn’t turn someone as simple-minded as Cerid? You’ve been getting him to do exactly what you want for years and he hasn’t noticed or even questioned anything. Shit, you even hand picked him as the last surviving child for this purpose and it hasn’t clicked for him yet that it wasn’t a coincidence he was the only kid away on a sweet little day trip during the epidemic!”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Cinder watched her with the same even gaze as always, but anger simmered beneath his words. “Cerid has done nothing to warrant this suspicion.”

Iree rolled her eyes. “You know I’m right.” Cinder was blinded by love. Cerid was the last one left, so daddy dearest wanted things to work out. “I don’t expect you to take my word for it. Just give him a little test.”

“And if he fails?”

“Up to you. He’s your son, I’m not gonna do anything to him. No worries.” She smiled, sensing him relax. Any decision Cinder made wouldn’t be her fault. She was just encouraging him to do what was needed and ask questions about Cerid’s loyalties before he could start making trouble.

“Very well. What would you have me do?”

“There are two things to watch out for.” She went on to explain them.

“Very well, Miss Nobelis.” Cinder sighed. “I can tell you want something else from me. Name it so I can be left in peace.”

“One last attack. Just give me that. If I fail, then do with me what you will, no protests.” She was willing to stake it all just to get the chance to take her greatest enemy down.

Dorothea Atlin. Iree would make the rest of her dwindling days as painful as possible.

*

It was all utterly ridiculous. That’s what Pearlie Kingfisher thought.

Her sister who had left her behind, ignored her pleas and killed her, that same sister had sent Dorothea Atlin to Pearlie as some kind of protector? Laughable. Ridiculous, awful, and she had to find it funny or else she’d just cry.

“Honey? Honey.” Johanna caught her attention and her hands, stopping Pearlie in her furious work of ripping weeds up. “You’re pulling new growth right now. We can’t afford that.” They had all cultivated a small garden in the corner of the barracks, and today was their turn to manage it.

“Whatever!” Pearlie seethed. “Gren and that girl are out there right now healing the surrounding area, so what’s it matter what I’m doing right now?” Only the day after she’d arrived and Pearlie found her presence grating enough to want to scream.

“Whatever,” Johanna echoed. “You sound just like Ariana used to.” She smiled when Pearlie turned a glare on her. “Come on. It’s not like you to be this angry. Let’s talk about it.” Her hands squeezed Pearlie’s gently, and she felt her negative emotions trailing away like wispy smoke.

“Ariana, she… I looked her in the eyes as she…” Pearlie had been murdered by her own big sister, the person who was supposed to stand by her her no matter what. The instant of sheer terror and horror she had felt as the slice sunk into her neck was nothing compared to the betrayal.

Johanna nodded in sympathy but remained silent, knowing Pearlie wasn’t done talking.

“And then all of a sudden she starts caring?! What is that? Sending someone else to protect me in her place, what in the world is she thinking?!” Pearlie nearly screamed. In a fury she seized her spade, turned and blindly threw it as hard as she could.

“Oof!” The tool was unfortunately intercepted.

Pearlie’s heart dropped. “Oh. Oh no. Oh no!” she cried, scrambling towards her unintended victim. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?!”

Dorothea clutched her stomach, smiling weakly as she made a slow descent to the ground. “Yup. Totally fine.” Her pale face had taken on a strange tinge of green. “Oh Gods I’m lucky I already threw up and also that it didn’t hit a little higher or lower, so in that sense we’re actually both doing okay right?” she wheezed, holding her thumbs up before flopping onto her back. “Ugh…”

She already threw up? Even through her shame and panic, that stuck out to Pearlie. And was that blood beneath her nose in a faint smear that hadn’t been fully wiped away? “Are you really okay?”

Dorothea smiled, smudging her nose with her knuckles once she noticed where Pearlie was looking. “I’m fine. I was on my way to see you and Johanna, if you don’t mind sparing me a moment. Um, to report how this morning went. Gren, Rhys and Wesley are still out delivering care packages.”

“Oh.” And Pearlie had just been complaining about those efforts. “Okay…” She let Dorothea into the garden surrounding her and Johanna’s home, and Johanna met them in the middle.

“You good?” she asked Dorothea.

“Peachy, even!” she held up her thumbs again, which made Pearlie believe the opposite. “But anyways, I won’t take up too much of your time.” She folded her hands. “We completed one-hundred miles today. All of that land is sprouting new growth. If you need me I’ll be in our…” Her cheeks flushed. “In Gren’s room, resting.Feel free to wake me up for any reason.”

“Hold on!” Pearlie skittered after her as she started scuttling away. “Um… About Ariana.”

“Yes?”

“Did she ever say anything about me?” Pearlie felt like a child, trying desperately to earn approval like this. That was all she’d wanted this entire time: to find the right words, the right self that would bring Ariana back to her side.

“I can tell you this for certain.” She squeezed Pearlie’s arms, looking steadily into her eyes. “Ariana wants to come home. She’s sorry but doesn’t think that’s enough, and she’s convinced she has nowhere to go.” She withdrew her hands with a nervous smile. “I won’t tell you to forgive her, because some things can’t be forgiven, and you’re not obligated to grant anything you don’t want to. Um, I was taught that recently.”

She looked peaceful as she said that, and it calmed Pearlie’s heart as well. “But?”

“But it all comes down to you. If you want your sister back, then say the word to her. I’ll show her there’s a world for her to live in. If you want to tell her there’s a place to come back to in that world, then go for it. But in the meantime…” She took a breath and looked at Pearlie with a tired but strong determination. “Ariana asked me to protect you, so no matter what happens between the two of you or what you decide, that’s what I’ll do. Gren and I owe her our lives, and she’s my friend.”

Tears flooded Pearlie’s eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, Ana…” All this time she had never wanted to understand how her sister felt, what fear and desperation had driven her to leave. Thinking about it only forced her to confront how she hadn’t been strong enough, worth enough, just enough at all to change her mind.

“You were enough,” Dorothea suddenly insisted, and Pearlie jumped. What, she could turn back time and read minds now? “Sorry if I’m only projecting here, but… There’s nothing you could have done. You were enough, and you have been all this time. Ariana left because of things that were totally out of your control. There are things we just can’t help when it comes to the people we love most. So…” She backed away, ducking her head. “That’s all.”

“Will you really help me?” Pearlie blurted. “I want to bring my big sister home. And if everyone she cares about tells her it’s okay, maybe she’ll realize I’ve been here the entire time, waiting.”

Dorothea smiled, rubbing at her eyes. “Of course. We’ll make it happen.” She dipped her head one last time. “I’m sorry, but I think I need to sit down for a while. Thanks for talking with me. Pearlie, Johanna, have a good one.”

Johanna laughed once Dorothea was out of sight. “She’s a total weirdo.”

“Yeah,” Pearlie sniffled. “Jojo?”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry for being a big jerk.”

“It’s all good. Maybe apologize again later for spiking a shovel at her though.”

“I-I will.”

“I promise you.” She bent to kiss Pearlie’s forehead. “We’re gonna bring her home.”

Johanna had said those same words to her all those years ago when Ariana had first left. For the first time, Pearlie believed them.