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PREVIOUSLY...
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Azura attended the ball to celebrate the alliance between Wymler and the Order. Members of the Association in Wymler were guests at the ball, and Azura couldn't help but wonder which of the leaders of the rebellion was the one that betrayed the Tacree Kingdom to the Sharlik Empire, if the theory is true. Azura brushed such thoughts away to dance with Ari, her feelings for him beginning to develop beyond thinking of him as just an ally.

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Ari and I find ourselves in the garden after our dance, away from the noise of the crowd and music. The hush of the overgrown garden, accompanied only by the soft chimes singing in the great tree, help soothe the nerves that have dogged my steps.

"I wanted to thank you again, Azura," he begins, breaking a leaf off a hedge to tear pieces off it. "What you did for Suri was brave."

"Or foolish," I reply and he shakes his head, amusement glimmering in his brown eyes as he looks at me. The amusement fades though and he stops walking, his gaze lifting to the shining stars above us.

"I want to trust you, Azura, I really do. But it's difficult to know who I can trust in this place."

I tilt my head, having not expected this conversation to take such a turn. But I'm curious about what thoughts stir in his head. I know my own thoughts are becoming confusing. "Do you trust Suri and Lilja?"

"With my life, but I wouldn't tell them the things I told you."

"Then why did you tell me?"

A wry smile graces his lips. "Because you ask. Most are content to not know the hard questions or answers to things, you're the first I've met in a while." Ari begins walking again and I follow, letting the quiet settle between us.

There was a time when I didn't want to know such things, when I just wanted to bury myself in simplicity. That time doesn't seem so long ago. Being here has changed a lot of things within me.

"I never told you how I came to be at the Order," he continues. "The only shape-shifter here."

"You don't need to tell me, Ari. It's okay."

Ari sighs, dropping the remnants of his leaf. "I was only eight at the time of Tacree's fall. I shouldn't have survived. But..." He draws in a breath, seeming to try and gather his strength.

We stop walking and I wait in silence, letting him find his words. I know how hard it can be to talk sometimes.

"It was my mother who saved me. She took me through an old tunnel, pushed me forward and stayed behind to fend off the soldiers as I made my escape." Ari looks down at his clenched fist, but his gaze is faraway, reliving harrowing memories I don't know if I want to hear. "I heard her dying screams as the soldiers cut through her. She died alone in the dark."

"Ari..." I begin, my throat tight but he shakes his head.

"The tunnel led to the shore. And there I ran into members of the Order. They saved me, took me here, and for a time I was grateful. I thought they were there to give assistance to Tacree." Ari's features harden and his jaw clenches. "But there were too few of them. It was hardly the army they would have needed to offer Tacree any sort of help."

My brows draw together. "So, what were they doing there?"

"All I can do is speculate, but everything about the fall of Tacree doesn't feel right."

"I don't think the destruction of a kingdom is meant to feel right, Ari," I mutter.

"You know what I mean," he says with a wave of his hand.

I glance away from him towards the great tree, the veins of glowing blue interwoven in the trunk. "You're set on believing the rebellion is somehow sided with the Empire, aren't you?"

"It makes sense," he replies but I shake my head and narrow my eyes at him.

"It really doesn't. This war has been raging for gods know how long; this rebellion against the Empire. Why pour so many resources into a false war?"

Ari's shoulders slump and he doesn't argue.

"I agree with you, Ari. Some things don't make sense about the fall of Tacree, but what you're saying makes less sense." Especially since the rebellion wants me to assassinate Emperor Ulric, but I don't tell him that. It's better if people don't know my true reasons for being here, lest they believe I'm somehow a spy for Palmira. Like Vera.

"I just..." He presses his lips together and falls silent, but not before I hear the evident hurt in his voice.

I reach out and lay my hand on his upper arm, drawing his gaze back to me. "I get it. You're trying to find a reason for your mother's death, why you're here and she's not. I do the same thing sometimes." I swallow the emotion that tries to choke me. "We have to bear their sacrifices, and it's a heavy burden."

Ari's eyes flick between mine, and whatever he sees makes him look at me like I've handed him the greatest gift of all time. And perhaps understanding is a gift. I've lived most of my life being plagued by misunderstanding.

Except then he shifts forward and my eyes widen as his lips brush against mine. It's a feather light touch, more of a question than a real kiss, but my answer comes quickly.

I punch Ari in the mouth. My fist crunches into his face and he grunts. He presses his fingers to his split lip as blood stains his pale skin.

"I deserved that," he mutters, but I curse, stepping closer to him. I pinch the cuff of my sleeve and press it to his lip. Ari hisses and I narrow my eyes.

"Hold still," I mutter and with gentle fingers on his jaw, I turn his face, frowning at the deep cut in his lip.

"You hit hard," he says with a chuckle, his breath feathering against my cheek. "I'm so sorry."

I overreacted. I freaked out. I can admit that much. Clearly I still have a few issues concerning my past, no matter how much my brother told me to leave it all behind and continue forward. I should be the one apologising.

I frown. No, I shouldn't be apologising, this awkward situation is completely his fault. "You kissed me," I state.

"I think I drank too much," he mutters, touching his bleeding lip and wincing.

The warmth of his lips lingers on mine and something sparks within me. I've never been kissed before. I've seen it and heard stories about it, but I've never experienced it myself and now I feel like I've missed out. Curiosity burns in my chest like it never has before.

I grip his bow-tie and drag him back down to my level. A gasp leaves his lips before I crush our mouths together, not completely certain how this is meant to work but determined to find out. I taste the blood on his lips, a metallic tang that I relish.

Ari's hands settle on my waist and he pulls back a little, softening the kiss that I'd attacked him with like I was going into battle with my eyes closed. Our lips meld together, the blood making them slick and warm and strangely to my liking.

The voices hush, the breeze tickles the bare skin of the back of my neck, and everything is simple and nice for a few loud heartbeats.

But then things sharpen, come into focus like my world has been lit up. Ari's pulse is a chaotic thump through his body, racing with nerves and energy. It only becomes faster when I sink my hands into his hair, musing the silken strands that I seem to be able to feel through my gloves. The chimes of the tree are no longer a whisper, but a melody that sings with this moment, a chorus of vibrant noise. His lips are softer than petals against mine, the taste of sweet champagne on his tongue and the soothing smell of soap and pine on his skin.

But within him, just beneath his skin, in the way his blood hums, is something powerful and dangerous. I see it for a glimmer of a moment. Teeth sharper than any blade, muscle carrying the strength of a thousand men, an animal born to kill and protect.

I pull away with a gasp, the world settling around me, reducing back to normalcy. For a moment I saw everything. It all made perfect sense, but at the same time, none at all.

That power terrifies me.

"Are you alright?" he asks, studying my features, his hands still on my waist and my hands still in his hair, the strands seeming lighter against the darkness of my gloves.

"I'm fine," I tell him. But I'm more than that. For a moment I'd felt his heartbeat as though it were my own.

"You two!" someone calls and Ari and I jump apart as Lilja and Suri walk towards us. "Come on."

I frown at the girls as I wipe blood from my lips with the back of my hand, glancing at Ari who shrugs. I deign to follow them further into the garden, towards the singing tree with its glowing blue veins.

"We're having a midnight picnic," Suri says, looking at me over her shoulder and my gaze is drawn to the platter in her arms.

"You didn't," I groan and pink dusts her cheeks as she blushes.

"No one was eating it," she defends, adjusting the large plate of cakes and cookies in her arms.

"I mean, we've stolen more expensive things," Lilja laughs, displaying a bottle of champagne clutched in her hands.

"You two are as bad as each other," I grumble with a shake of my head, lifting my skirt so it doesn't scrape along the stone. The girls find a spot by the tree, sitting beneath the groaning branches amongst the bulging roots and settling down with their food and champagne. I follow with a sigh.

"Thank you," Suri says to us as she picks up a cookie and nibbles on it. "I know you didn't want to go but you did."

"It was compulsory," Lilja points out, taking a swig of champagne straight from the bottle.

"Yes, but you stayed, you didn't have to." Suri smiles, looking at each of us as Ari leans against the trunk of the tree with his arms crossed, looking up at the dancing chimes. I raise a brow as I look back to Suri and her eyes fill with tears, her lips pressing together. "You guys." She covers her face with her hands though she still clings to her cookie.

"Suri," Lilja laughs as I watch with a concerned gaze.

"You all just look so beautiful and you're so kind to me," she sobs a little and it takes me too long to realise she cries happy tears. Lilja reaches out and pulls her sister into a hug, chuckling and my gaze softens as I watch them, such love passing between their shaky giggles.

"Suri, if you keep being emotional, then you won't have time to eat your cake."

She perks up at that and wipes away her tears. She takes a slice of cake, her lopsided smile warming even my cold heart. I shake my head and swipe up a chocolate cookie to shove in my mouth. Ari finally sits with us and laughs as Suri smears her nose with cream.

I look at the people around me—Ari, Suri, Lilja—as they laugh and eat and pass around the bottle of champagne beneath the light of the moon and the glow of the blue tree. As a smile tugs at my still tingling lips, I realise this might just be what peace feels like, what happiness feels like with these mismatched people that have given me more than just survival and alliances.

"There's another reason I brought you out here," Suri says, setting her food down on the plate and brushing her hands. "If you'll all agree, I'd like to put sygils on you."

I quirk a brow, waiting for her to elaborate.

"It'll hurt but... I'd like to do it." She holds out her wrist and Lilja does the same. "We already have them, matching sygils that are linked." The sygils they display glow a gentle white. They're only small, no bigger than a coin. "If one of us were to... pass away, then the sygil would go out."

I blink at her, my lips parting. "And you want all of us to have them?"

She nods. "We'll each need three sygils, but we'll all be linked. It's a permanent thing so I'll understand if you don't want to."

I barely let her finish before I've tugged off my left glove and have my wrist bared to her. "I want to."

Ari rolls up his sleeve and shrugs. "I already have one, so why not?"

"You already have one?" I question, meeting his eye as Suri swipes up the knife from the plate, wiping off the remnants of cake onto the grass.

Ari just presses his lips into a line and nods, not saying anything more about it.

Who could it be connected to? And is it still alight?

I push aside my questions as Suri gets to work on me. Blood drips onto the ancient roots beneath us as she carves a line of three sygils down my wrist. The magic binds us all together and I glance down at the light on my wrist, smiling to know I have fragments of life from those I care about embedded in my skin. The sygils will scar, and they'll be there forever, even if...

No, I refuse to let any of these lights go out, though a part of me questions whether they'll even work. I don't plan to find out.

We talk for the longest time about everything and nothing after the sygils have been carved into each of us, about the stars and their meanings, about school and our futures. We all have dreams, all have reasons to be here, things that we're running from, people that we wish were still beside us. But there's just us now, we are the ones who made it here out of all the people that pushed us onto this path.

We waste the night away in each other's company, listening to the gentle music from the chimes. And maybe—just maybe—I want to stay right here, surrounded by people who've shown me kindness that I thought existed only in stories.