Amara stared at the girl in disbelief. “Are you here to kill me?”
Nerissa raised a brow. “If I were, you’d already be dead.”
Perhaps this was only a dream. It had to be a dream. Or a hallucination of some kind from the heat and claustrophobia. “You should have returned to Mytica weeks ago, with Felix and Lyssa.”
“I did return. You don’t honestly think I would leave Felix Gaebras all alone with a baby, do you? He wouldn’t have had the first clue what to do with her, even without his seasickness to contend with.”
This was happening, Amara realized. It wasn’t just a dream. “You went home . . . and now you’re back?”
“Mytica was never my home, just a brief stop on my journey—one I certainly enjoyed for a time.” She jumped up into the back of the wagon and, with the key in her grip, unlocked Amara’s chains. “In case you’re still confused about all this, I’m rescuing you.”
Amara shook her head. “I don’t deserve rescue.”
I deserve escape, she thought. And continued survival. But certainly not rescue by outside forces.
Nerissa leaned her shoulder against the side of the wagon as Amara rubbed her sore wrists and tried to stand up. Her leg had mostly healed, but she still had a limp. Perhaps she always would.
“We all deserve to be rescued,” Nerissa said simply. “Some of us take longer to realize it than others.”
Amara stepped down into the daylight, again shielding her eyes from the sun. They hadn’t made it very far—they were almost at the docks, the Silver Sea just a stone’s throw away. She looked around at the unconscious guards, realizing that Nerissa wasn’t alone.
She was with three other rebels, including Mikah.
Her breath caught at the sight of him.
Mikah gestured at Amara with the tip of his dagger. “I know you told Nerissa and Felix about me, and if you didn’t, I’d be dead. But know this: If you show your face in the Jewel after today, it’s over. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
Amara pressed her lips together and nodded, resisting the urge to speak. She could only make this worse by trying to explain herself.
Mikah didn’t wait. He and the other two rebels walked away without looking back.
“I don’t think organizing my rescue won you any friends,” Amara said.
Nerissa shrugged. “I’m fine with that. Come, let’s walk along the shore. I have a ship waiting for us at the docks so we can leave this place far behind us.”
Amara followed her, her limp even more pronounced once they walked along the sandy beach. “Why did you do this for me?”
“Because everyone deserves a second chance.” Nerissa cast a look at the white beach and blue ocean that spread out before them. “Besides, the dust has settled in Mytica. Kyan and his siblings were defeated, their magic returned to . . .” She shook her head, frowning. “Lucia explained it to me, but I still don’t really understand it. The magic is everywhere now. It’s spread out . . . in everyone and everything, where it always belonged, and where it can do no more harm.”
Amara felt a knot in her stomach loosen.
Kyan was gone. The world was safe again.
“I’m glad,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“I was happy to help out there for a while, to do what I could.” A smile touched Nerissa’s lips. “You’re not the only one who’s been given a second chance in this life. I’d been using mine the best I could.”
“How curious. I’d like to hear more about that one day.”
“One day,” Nerissa agreed.
A thought occurred to Amara. “Did you see my brother?”
“Briefly. I told him what you did and that you’d helped us save Lyssa.”
“And what did he say?”
“Not much.” Nerissa grimaced. “You were right: He will need time to find forgiveness in his heart for you.”
The very heart that I stabbed, Amara thought. “I don’t think an eternity will be enough time,” she said.
“Perhaps. But we all make our choices and then must deal with the consequences, whatever they are.”
Yes, so very true.
So many choices and so many consequences.
“Tell me,” Nerissa said after they walked in silence for a while. “Did you ever dream of anything in your life beyond being empress?”
Amara considered this. “To be honest, no. The only real option for me was marriage, but I’d put it off as long as I could. I suppose, before I became empress, I was waiting for the right powerful man that I knew I’d be able to control and manipulate.”
Nerissa considered this. “And now?”
“Now I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with the rest of my life.” The sea air was warm and smelled like salt. She breathed in the unexpected freedom that she knew she didn’t truly deserve. “Why would you leave Cleo to come back here? I know she depended on you and considered you a true friend.”
“The princess doesn’t need me anymore,” Nerissa replied simply.
Amara couldn’t help but laugh at this. “And I do?”
Nerissa took Amara’s hand in hers, squeezing it. “Yes, actually I think you do.”
Amara looked down at Nerissa’s hand. She didn’t try to pull away.
“So,” Nerissa said when the docks came into view up ahead, “where do you want to go now?”
Amara smiled at the sheer number of possibilities that now lay ahead of her—opportunities she never thought possible. But perhaps somewhere along the line, in some small way, she might find a way to redeem herself.
“Everywhere,” she said.
CHAPTER 36
CLEO
LIMEROS
“Ouch!”
“Apologies, your highness.” Lorenzo Tavera finally finished lacing up the back of Cleo’s gown so tightly that she could barely breathe.
“I don’t remember it being this uncomfortable during our previous fitting,” she said with a grimace.
“Discomfort is temporary,” he told her. “The beauty of silk and lace is forever.”
“If you say so.”
He took a step back from her, clasping his hands together with joy. “Absolutely stunning! My greatest creation to date!”
She took a moment to admire the gown in the mirror before her. The skirt consisted of layer upon layer of delicate, violet-colored silk and satin, like the petals of a rose. Golden threads woven through the material created a near-magical sheen whenever the gown caught the light. Several seamstresses—and Lorenzo himself—had spent weeks embroidering graceful birds in flight over the bodice.
They were hawks, which Cleo appreciated. Hawks were the symbol of Auranos, the symbol of Watchers and of immortality. They were every bit as meaningful to Cleo as the phoenix was to Kraeshians.