Chapter 68

  Lydia

  “We should start by reclaiming the lost lands of Trazkel,” Yuzuki said, pointing at the northwestern section of the continental map sprawled across the table. “As we speak, my brother is mobilizing our forces to make land any day now. If they land on the coast, our forces can fight toward each other to push the imperial forces back east.” She dragged her finger down the map around the border of the country. “Then we can use the Ural Mountains as a natural fortification.”

  “It’s a good suggestion,” Luke said thoughtfully. The council meeting had been in full swing for a while now, but nobody could really agree on the next course of action, and now that we’re finally making progress, the responsibility of our future weighed heavily on everyone’s mind.

  “However, if we do that—” Lucia cut in, and I looked at her in surprise. It’s not that I didn't want to hear her opinion, but it was unusual for her to speak up in these situations. “We risk an attack on our southern border. We’re surrounded by the enemy, save for the coastline. If they catch on to our movements, we could leave ourselves open to a swift counterattack.”

  That made all the advisors murmur their own opinions, and as the discussion was sparked once again, I stared silently at the map, trying to come up with a solution.

  “What if we attack both sides simultaneously?” I said unconsciously.

  “What do you mean, Lydia?” Abel asked me, having caught my words and drawing the room's attention to me. Quickly, I composed myself, stamping down the sudden nerves I felt. It’s been a long time since I was in the spotlight like this…

  “It will take the empire time to organize a full army… They have long held control of the continent, and their primary force is scattered throughout the land.” I dragged my finger along the paper, then looked up at Luke with a question. “How many of the enemy's known forces are confirmed to be under the emperor's enhancements?

  “After the damage from the last few conflicts… we believe only a few thousand across the empire from our scouting reports. The main army that conquered our border was split up after Thomas Rose took command of The offensive.” A few thousand sounded like a lot, but when scattered across the entire continent…

  “If we’re lucky, we’ll only fight a few hundred of them at a time… I think that’s manageable.” I leaned back in my wheelchair with a smirk. “Especially once Audrey and I get back on our feet… Audrey alone nearly made the difference last time. With the two of us, and the Yamadian reinforcements, we should be able to push the Imperials back east and liberate the north and south to establish a parallel front to stage the rest of the war.”

  “But that would leave us vulnerable from the west while we launch the offensive.” Luke pointed out, but I shook my head.

  “Audrey can stay behind and hold the line. I’ll lead the attack to the south while the Yamadians come from the north.” As much as I hated the idea of being separated from my girlfriend for an extended period, it was my turn to fight for my country. And it will probably be safer for her. Nobody voiced an objection as they all stared at the map in silence, working through the plan in their own thoughts. At least… Until I felt a hand on mine, and looked over to see Audrey with a calm smile on her lips.

  “No. I’ll lead the charge south.”

  “I refuse—” I started, but she squeezed my hand and I fell silent.

  “Lydia, your magic is literally specialized for defense.” She said. “While I can certainly hold the line with my shadows and water, it doesn’t compare to the capabilities you have. I also have experience on the frontline already… the soldiers have seen me in action.” She faltered a little in the last sentence before biting her lip with a sad expression. “The ones that survived… at least.” All of her points were valid. She was refuting my desire to keep her safe, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was making the same mistakes I had before. I needed to trust her.

  “Alright.” I finally said, understanding it truly was the best option. That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

  The meeting after that wrapped up quickly, with Yuzuki confirming the plan to be conveyed to the Daimyo, and Luke giving everyone else the chance to object or suggest other ideas. When nobody did, he dismissed the advisors, and we all watched as they shuffled out of the room, discussing the outcome between themselves.

  One change that had happened in the week Audrey and I had been drifting in and out of consciousness had been the purge of every noble who had sided with the empire. Those just so were the most corrupt noble houses that had stood too ingrained in the previous state of affairs to root out, so it was a suitable outcome as far as I was concerned. That meant that all the people we now consulted as advisors truly had the best interests of the people in their hearts, and it was refreshing to see.

  As I ruminated silently to myself, Abel came over and put his hand on my shoulder.

  “There’s something else you two need to see.”

  Confused, both Audrey and I looked up at him, but he just led the way out of the meeting room silently, and Leah and Sasha pushed us along to follow.

  ***

  Audrey

  I didn’t know what to expect from Abel’s words, and it was clear by the look on Lydia’s face that she didn’t either… That was until we stopped in front of one of the many guest rooms in the castle. When we entered, I gasped in shock. On the bed lay a woman with green hair. Maybe it was once as vibrant as the forest, but it now had a sickly shade. Her eyes were sunken and the skin around them pale as she slept peacefully on the bed, no doubt under the influence of many remedies.

  “What did he do to her…?” I asked quietly as I was placed right beside the bed.

  “That artifact the Duke had implanted to increase his regeneration was fueled by her divine power.” Abel said with a grim expression. “She had been locked up in the dungeon while they forcefully extracted it from her… We also found the remains of her guards in separate cells. Templar knights.”

  “Is she a saint?” Lydia asked. “The spiritual church won’t take kindly to one of their own being tortured… There’s a reason they always maintain neutrality in times of strife.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we have the corpse of the perpetrator to present to them.” The prince said with a charming smile that didn't match the words coming out of his mouth.

  “We can only hope that’s enough to quell their anger.” Lydia murmured, reaching out to touch the unconscious woman’s hand. “Mana extraction is painful, even when consensual… I can’t imagine the pain she went through.” She paused for a moment, then sighed. “Templars are the elite of the churches guard… If it wasn’t for the emperor’s ‘blessing—’” She practically spit out the word before catching herself. “Well, I suppose it’s too late either way. We’ll give them a proper burial, yes?” Abel nodded his head.

  “Already taken care of. May their spirits rest.”

  As they spoke, my eyes were drawn back to the woman on the bed, and I reached out to lay my hand beside Lydia. My body was still weak and recovering, but I could at least do a little to help ease her suffering. Carefully, I stirred the thin threads of stella inside me, and let a bit of divine light glow from my hand.

  “Careful, my guardian… Overdrawing your power now could have worse consequences than you’ve already experienced.” Aurora chided gently in my mind, her voice a bit distant because of the lack of divinity inside me.

  “I know… But I want to help her, if only a little.” I asserted, then focused on my magic. Lydia sensed what I was doing, but didn’t object. Instead, she also released a bit of her power to tandem. Already, the woman’s face colored with health, and her hair regained some of it’s vibrant hue. Even if it wasn’t enough to completely heal her, it should ease the worst.

  What I hadn’t expected, as the two of us halted the healing, was for the bed-ridden woman’s eyes to flutter open, and her hand to grab me with surprising strength as I pulled away.

  “Divine power…?” She whispered, her voice hoarse. Her dark blue eyes, almost the color of the deep ocean, searched the room before landing on me. “W-Who are… you? Are you f-from the church?” She asked, pain lacing her voice.

  “We’re not.” I replied after a moment. “We’re with the resistance… We found you in Castle Venyth’s underground.”

  “So… the Grand Duke… has fallen?”

  “Yes.”

  Silence filled the room as she absorbed my definitive answer, and then she opened her mouth again.

  “My knights…”

  “I’m sorry.” I squeezed her hand softly as I spoke. “They didn’t make it.”

  “I… see.”

  Again, she didn’t continue for a moment. It was hard to tell through the exhaustion already present in her expression, but I was sure she was filled with grief at the revelation.

  “We already gave them a proper funeral.” Luke spoke up from beside the wall. “My name is Luke Venyth, the crown prince of this country. I can guarantee your safety while you live within these walls, saintess.”

  “As you… should.” She replied, a note of authority coloring her words. I couldn’t help but be surprised she had the will to act like that even in her state. “I sensed divine power… earlier. If you’re not with the church… then you are… either undiscovered talent… or the divine guardians.”

  I shared a worried glance with Lydia, then with the prince. They had told me before it would be dangerous for the church to meet me personally… I assumed it was double the risk now with Lydia awakened as a guardian. But a part of me doubted whether they’d really be able to do anything to us at this point.?

  “They are the divine guardians.” Luke eventually answered. However, they are also my sisters and the princesses of Venyth. The church will hold no sway over their freedom.” His words actually made the saintess laugh a bit before it turned into coughing.

  “I suppose we can leave it at that for now… I’ll just be grateful I finally found them.” She made it seem like she had been searching for us for a long time, but I didn’t get the chance to ask as her eyes slowly fell shut once again. It was an abrupt end to the conversation, but the woman definitely needed to rest, even with our healing.

  “She seems like a character.” Lydia mumbled, which made Abel laugh a little.

  “Indeed… I have a feeling she’s going to be quite a handful once she regains some of her strength.” Luke said, already rubbing at his temples as if the stress this woman would bring was already upon us. Silently, I gazed out the window as the setting sun dyed the room around us orange. An unconscious sigh escaped my lips, causing Lydia to eye me with concern.

  “Are you feeling alright?”

  “I’m just… tired.” I replied. We had started the day late, but it already felt like so much happened. I was ready to go back to bed for the rest of the evening.

  “I apologize, girls.” Luke said with a regretful expression. “I know you must be nearing your limits as well, but there’s a few more things we should do while you are awake. Think you can manage?”

  “It's safe, right?” Lydia asked, and it took me a moment to surface the memory. Auntie and Uncle's legacy… The thought shocked all the exhaustion from my body, and I sat up with a excited smile.

  “We should go! The three of you have waited long enough.”

  ***

  Lydia

  After we had checked on the saintess, we headed toward my parents' old bedroom. My mother's last revelation had no doubt stuck in all our minds, but my siblings had been patiently waiting for me to recover enough strength so we could find the safety she had spoken of together. A few minutes later, Audrey and I rolled through the threshold of the castle's royal bedroom. It had been a while since I was in here, even before everything that has happened. My brothers and I had simply learned it was for the best to not intrude on such a loving couple's private space... for the sake of our own sanity.

  Still, the room was just as impressive as ever, despite the clear redecorating Thomas Rose had done during his brief stay. A large bed sat in the middle of the room and against the back wall. The mattress was large enough to fit our whole family side by side and then some. When my parents had been the occupants, an elegant silk net had draped over the frame, but that had been replaced by a dreadful black curtain that matched the current linens on the bed.

  Various vanities lined the walls, and I smiled to myself as memories surfaced in my mind. Growing up, Mother and I would take turns doing each other's hair and makeup, giggling together whenever my little hands would mess hers up.

  Shaking my thoughts away, I looked over to see my brother running his hand along the left wall.

  "Did you already find it?" I asked, and Luke smiled at me.

  "Of course we did." Luke said casually.

  "We weren't just sitting around doing nothing while our sisters took their nap..." Abel joined in, walking up beside our older brother with a smirk. I could only roll my eyes at their teasing as Audrey giggled beside me.

  I watched as my brother’s hand sunk into the wall, the stone brick sinking beneath his palm. Beside it, the bricks melted into one another until a large section had vanished. My senses were still a bit weak, but I could feel mana shifting through the wall, revealing the earth-attribute artifact responsible. Inside the perfectly cut space sat a large metal safe, and I sensed even more mana emanating from it… But it felt oddly familiar.

  On the door of the safe, five symbols were engraved. The two largest were hand-shaped, and below that were smaller elemental symbols for ice, lightning, and fire. When I reached out to touch them, nothing happened until my fingertips brushed over the engraved flame, and I felt an immediate reaction.

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  “It’s my mana?” I muttered in surprise. Exerting myself a little, I materialized a small white flame at my finger, ignoring the discomfort I felt at using my magic when I wasn’t fully recovered. Immediately, my flame spread over the symbol, but then vanished, leaving the carving glowing slightly as it hummed with more energy.

  “If that’s the case, then—” Abel extended his arm and touched the lightning symbol, a spark of electricity jumping from his skin into the metal. Following suit, his symbol also settled into a calm glow. It wasn’t long before Luke had activated the ice engraving as well, and the three of us waited for a long moment before an audible thunk echoed through the bedroom, and the metal door cracked open gently.

  Inside, the safe was separated into two sections with a shelf dividing the top third from the rest. Still, all three of us stared in disbelief at the contents. The shelf was filled with papers, and when Abel grabbed one, I saw him visibly swallow an emotion as he showed Luke and I. It was a miniature portrait of the three of us as children, and it wasn’t the only one. Every paper that my brother retrieved was a picture—sometimes of us individually, or our whole family — it showed all of us in various states of growth and activity. There was ?a young teenage Abel doing practice swings with an excited grin on his face as Father watched from the side. Another showed Luke at his academy graduation, a calm but proud expression as Mother hugged his arm and Father held a hand on his shoulder. A complicated swirl of emotions filled my chest as I stared at a depiction of my younger self and my mother enjoying a peaceful tea party, smiles stretching both our expressions.

  “I wonder what they felt as they filled this vault with all these memories…” I murmured, only for Abel to smirk down at me in my wheelchair.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He teased lightly before his expression became serious with a soft smile. “I’m sure their hearts burst with love, just like ours as we receive it.”

  I could only nod in agreement, and Audrey laid her hand on my arm. Feeling her touch helped me calm my emotions, and I looked up at the larger space in the safe. The three of us had focused on the paintings, but now our gazes fell to the larger space on the bottom, where various items sat, and three neatly organized letters lay at the front. We each took one, our names scrawled on the envelope in my mother’s elegant handwriting. With trembling fingers, I peeled back the seal and retrieved the carefully folded note left inside.

  To Our Dearest Daughter,

  Tears pricked at my vision from the very first line, but I forced them back as Audrey gently rubbed my arm, reading over my shoulder.

  We’re leaving these letters behind in the hopes that you’ll never have to read them. If you are, then that means we’ve left you behind, and the very thought leaves us stricken with grief.

  I pray you’ll forgive us, even if it’s unwarranted.

  Rely on your brothers, as they will on you. We have faith our children will persevere.

  There wasn’t a single dot of hesitation in the ink, and I could feel my parents' confidence radiating from the page before the next section made me smile to myself.

  Truthfully, we’re more worried about the boys, since you have Audrey by your side, not to mention Leah. Do what you can to help them find what you have. Life without love—Romantic or not—Is hardly a life lived at all. If there was one area we hope to have succeeded as parents, it's that.

  I was suddenly struck by the realization that my parents never knew Abel and Lucia had harbored feelings for one another. That’s one less you need to worry about, Mother. I thought with a giggle. Now if only I could do something about my too-serious older brother. Our future king needs a capable queen after all.

  Inside the safe, alongside the countless memories we preserved, are the things we wanted to pass down to you. We hope they will help keep us in your thoughts until we can meet once more.

  But not anytime soon.

  For our daughter, Lydia Venyth, we leave the tiara your father gave to your mother upon her rise to crown princess. It carries with it the sweetest memories we made together and holds a lot of personal sentiment for your mother. We also want you and Audrey to have our engagement rings. Someday, when the two of you change the world and are able to marry, we’ll still be by your side.

  I looked up into the safe and saw a silver tiara and a pair of simple metal bands with small sapphires embedded through the middle. I reached out to take them, only to notice another pair of accessories beside them and hurriedly looked down to finish the letter.

  In addition, the bracelets are something Cecelia and I wore as a symbol of our friendship. In the end, I failed to upload the promise they signified, but I still want our daughters to have them. I’m certain Cecelia would feel the same.

  Lydia, always remember your parents love you and your brothers more than anything else in this life. Hold onto the happiness you create with your own hands, and always strive to be the best person your parents know you will become.

  With all the love in our hearts,

  Your mother & Father.

  With silent tears tracking down my cheeks, I gently folded the letter back up and closed my eyes. It took a few deliberate breaths, but I managed to calm my beating heart and stem the flow of tears. Instead of grief, all I wanted to feel was the love my parents had left behind.

  When I finally looked up, I saw my brothers in a similar state as they finished their own letters. I was curious about what my parents had said to them, but I had a suspicion they were instructed to keep me out of trouble. If we wanted to share the personal messages, we would eventually.

  My gaze returned to the carefully arranged accessories that sat behind where my letter had been, and reached out with a much steadier hand this time to retrieve them. The tiara felt light in my hand, but I could feel the history behind it as I lifted it to my head.

  Once it was in place, I turned with the two sets of jewelry in hand and smiled at Audrey.

  “This is the legacy they left behind for us.” I said, lifting her wrist to snap the silver bracelet around it.

  “Our mother’s bond…” my girlfriend murmured, staring as it sat beside the colorful twine Sasha made for her. She covered both bracelets with her other hand and smiled brightly. They were made of different materials, but to Audrey… I was sure they held the same value.

  After a moment, I let her snap the gold bracelet around my wrist in return, and I couldn’t help but feel immediately connected to it. My fingers brushed the sleek surface, and I closed my eyes in comfort. Instead of the cool metal, it was almost as if I could feel my mother's warm touch against my skin.

  “What should we do with these?” Audrey’s voice made my eyes flutter open, and she was looking at her palm where the two beautiful rings sat, sparkling in the magic lamp light. I hadn’t even noticed her take them from me.

  Softly, I closed her hand over them, holding it shut with mine.

  “Let’s put them away… until the day comes that we can wear them properly.” I suggested, and she nodded with a thoughtful expression on her face. I felt the stella in her body activate for a moment, and when I let her hand go, she opened her fingers to reveal an empty palm.

  “Safe and sound.” She said with a grin. Then a movement from behind her drew my attention as Abel reached into the safe and pulled out a sheath. The beautifully engraved grip of a sword resting in his hand as he pulled it free from its cover.

  “It's Father's sword.” He explained with a conflicted expression when he noticed my gaze. “The letter said our grandparents had it smith'd when he graduated from the academy.” The blade shone in the ambient light, and even I could tell it was of exceptional quality.

  “But Father never had talent with the blade.” I smirked, which made everyone else laugh. There was a reason he always fought bare-handed; martial arts had always been his calling.

  “He certainly was an unusual king,” Abel replied. “But he was a good one.”

  “He certainly left some big shoes to fill,” Luke added, his hand brushing over the last few items in the safe. “Their crowns and wedding rings… I suppose I’ll need to find the right person to wear them with me.” There must’ve been something in his letter about that as well, and I snickered behind my hand.

  “I’m sure we’ll find a good woman who can bear the weight alongside you.” I said.

  “You can stay out of it.” Luke shot back.

  “It was their last request for me, so I can’t, actually.” I said, waving my letter at him. My brother just rolled his eyes and didn’t grace me with a response.

  We spent a while just looking through the portraits we hadn’t seen yet and reminiscing about the past. We were only interrupted by a loud series of knocks at the bedroom door, and Lucia opened it to reveal Simon.

  “The preparations are complete, your Highnesses," the bespectacled attendant said with a bow after entering the room. Luke nodded his head, placing the portraits he had been holding back on the shelf and leaving his inheritance on the bottom of the safe.

  "Preparations for what?" I asked curiously, and my brother glanced over his shoulder with a sad smile.

  "Mother's funeral."

  "Oh... I see." I murmured, and Audrey reached over to take my hand comfortingly.

  “We should go… The others are waiting.” Luke said, turning on his heel and leaving the room. Waiting only a moment for Sasha and Leah to maneuver our wheelchairs to follow him down the hall. The silence was loud as our group moved through the castle halls.

  It had been a long day, but it wasn’t over for us yet. A few minutes later, I was rolled out onto a balcony, the fresh night air filling my lungs for the first time in a week. The light of our reclaimed city filled my vision over the castle walls, and when I looked down, I saw the neatly stacked pyre in the courtyard below. On top of it lay my mother’s body, dressed in a simple white gown with a cloth covering her face. Her golden hair fanned out behind her head… the same color that hung in the peripherals of my vision, reminding me that even after she’s gone… she’ll always be with me. A glint from the bracelet that was now wrapped around my wrist gave me even more reason.

  “Are we ready?” Luke asked gently and waited for both Abel and I to nod. He then raised a hand, and I saw a line of archers raise their bows, the tips of their arrows igniting with flame as they took aim at the stack of wood my mother rested on. As I watched them draw their bowstrings back, a sudden sense of wrongness filled my chest. My hands tightened around the balcony railing in front of me, and the moment before the archers released the arrows, I shot to my feet.

  “Wait!” I cried out, a mixture of pain and desperation ringing throughout the courtyard. Everyone turned to look at me with surprise and concern, but I only huffed to catch my breath from the outburst for a moment, putting all my weight against the railing that prevented me from falling to the ground below. “I…” I began. “I would like to do it.”

  “Are you sure? You shouldn’t overexert yourself.” Abel told me.

  “I’ll be fine!” I said, a little harsher than I meant to. Maybe it was the pain, or maybe it was the idea of someone else’s fire putting Mother to rest, but my emotions were running high suddenly. Like my heart was boiling with turmoil and on the verge of… exploding. I gave my brothers an apologetic look, to which they seemed to understand and backed off.

  “When you're ready then, Lydia,” Luke said, giving me permission. I nodded again and weakly raised my right hand, doing my best to call on my mana without overdoing it. Yet, all that sputtered to life in my palm was a small blue flame.

  “Damn it!” I whispered to myself in frustration. “White… Mother deserves that much from me!” It’s my fault they are dead, after all. The thought struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I gasped as hot tears burned at my eyes. I thought I had overcome the guilt… But now it all came flooding back through my mind. If only I’d been stronger! Smarter! Maybe I could’ve saved them! If only I had become Azure’s guardian sooner! The world spun around a single point in my vision; the only thing that remained still was the very proof of my failure laid upon the pyre.

  My breath hitched, and I felt my legs give way beneath me, yet somehow my arms and hands held fast to the railing, refusing me the release of unconsciousness. Again and again, the same thoughts raced through my mind… Until a gentle pressure on my back shook me out of the spiral.

  “Lydia… It’s not your fault!” Audrey's shaking voice was the only one to reach my ears as she hugged me tightly from behind, having pulled herself from her own wheelchair. I realized Leah, my brothers, and the others had all been calling for me with worry as well. “Please… She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. You know that. They gave their all to protect us all, and their failures and successes are theirs alone to carry. What happened in the past belongs only to our parents… But they’ve left us the future… Let’s not let regrets color even that.”

  “This isn’t the end, Dia,” Azure said in my head. “They loved you until their last moments in this life… and I know they will continue to do so into the next.” Her voice was lovingly gentle, and it comforted me. “This is only farewell until you can meet again.”

  I took a few deep, shuddering breaths, and my vision settled along with the pressure I felt inside my chest. Both of them were right, of course. This guilt wouldn’t fade away in just one night… It hadn’t in the months since Audrey and I had jumped to the future. But I knew, with the ones I loved by my side… maybe the day would come I could forgive myself.

  “I’m alright now… thank you.” I said to both my goddess and my girlfriend. Wiping at my eyes, I righted myself and found my balance against the railing once more. “I’ll do it properly now.” turning my palm toward the sky again, I focused until the flame that appeared sparked with white… But I couldn’t seem to muster the power to push it any further than that.

  “Let me help you.” Audrey said, laying her hands on my back. Soon after, I felt a trickle of her stellar drift into me, and I quickly channeled it into my hand. The flame grew in size, shifting to a bright white before sparking with gold. “A little more…” I heard my girlfriend whisper, and I subtly nodded in agreement. Pushing ourselves, we increased the flow to where our goddesses objected, but it was only for a moment. As soon as the flame turned pure golden, I pointed it toward the pyre that held Mother’s body… and released it.

  The little gold light shot down, disappearing between the dry logs of wood. For a few quiet seconds, nothing happened. But then the pyre exploded into a pillar of golden flames that stretched above the castle walls. The tongues of fire quickly engulfed Mother’s body, and in less than a minute, only ashes remained on the scorched stone brick of the courtyard.

  “I’m sure everyone saw that.” Luke said a bit numbly, and Abel scratched at the back of his head and sighed with exasperation.

  “At least it’s unmistakable.”

  I didn’t know what in the hell they were talking about; my body going weak as Leah helped me sit back in my wheelchair. Audrey practically fell into hers, and Sasha worried over her older sister, not buying the playful smile that had appeared on the redhead's lips. Slowly, my head began to droop from the toll of it all, but before I could pass out, Leah tapped on my shoulder.

  “Look, Lydia.” I did as I was told, and with great effort, looked back up over the city walls. The sight I found took my breath away.

  From all over the capital, paper lanterns rose into the air. Hundreds… No, thousands of them all flickering with the light of a tiny flame inside as they joined the stars in the sky.

  “What is this…?” I asked.

  “It’s beautiful!” Audrey said, clapping her hands together with a big grin on her face.

  “It’s a Yamadian tradition.” Yuzuki’s voice drew my attention from behind me, and she stepped up to our side. “It’s our way to honor those we’ve lost… and a promise to continue on without them.” As she spoke, my brothers and Sasha also stepped up holding unlit lanterns of their own, and Yuzuki continued her explanation. “We write their names on the lantern, then send them to the stars, where they can watch over us for eternity.”

  “Think you can manage a few more flames?” Abel asked me teasingly, and I smiled.

  “Of course I can… Who do you think you’re talking to?” I took the lantern he gave me and read the names of my parents written across the surface. Then I looked back at the endless lights that filled the capital's sky. “Every one of those has names… just like ours?” I whispered in thought. I hoped that, just like us, all our people could find solace in this goodbye.

  With more effort than I’d care to admit, I lit the lantern in my hands, still holding it so it wouldn’t fly away before we were ready. I took a moment to light Audrey’s as well, seeing her mother’s name the only one written… Or so I thought. When the flame inside was lit, I noticed another name. Written in small letters on the inside of the lantern, barely visible. I glanced. Up at Sasha, who held her hand out to take the lantern. I suppose it’s fine… However evil that man was; he was still her father. It was only right she got the same closure as we did. However, it did remind me that we still needed to have that discussion, but it could wait until a better time.

  Everyone else had lit their own lanterns with the help of magic artifacts or a nearby mage. Lucia had one, with the names of many comrades and friends written on it. Hailey had the names of her and Anthony’s former squad members, the most obvious being the names of the couple that had treated her as their own. Leah had the names of her family on hers; they had been among the first to be wiped out by Thomas Rose after his ascent to power. This moment was one I knew I would remember for the rest of my life… and a source of strength in the coming days against Xenis and his divine guardian of war masquerading as an emperor.

  After my brothers joined me in holding the lantern, and Sasha and Audrey held theirs, we all let them go at the same time and watched as they joined the countless others that seemed to form a river of light into the heavens.

  “A goodbye… and a new beginning.” I breathed.

  “It is.” Audrey replied, interlacing her fingers with mine.

  The last thing we saw was the beauty and warmth that was still preserved in our hearts, even after all the hardship. Then… we fell asleep as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to us.