“Whatever was necessary,” she whispered.
I nodded my head as I knelt in front of her, grasping her hands in mine.
“Whatever was necessary,” I repeated, squeezing her palms. “If you were sentenced to the mines and Peytor was here, would he leave you to your fate?”
She shook her head, eyes welling with tears. “No.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” I agreed.
“But I’m not Peytor,” she whispered brokenly. “I’m not strong or smart. I can’t make decisions for myself that don’t harm other people. I don’t even knowhowto help him. Or anyone else. I’m just a girl—a silly girl who is stuck in a game that is so beyond my comprehension.”
I squeezed her hands again.
Finally. An opportunity.
“You are not weak, Ellowyn.” She opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head. “You are just inexperienced.Beneath it all, you have a strength that is unmatched—why else would Fate have blessed you with two powers?”
“I don’t even know how to use them.”
I pursed my lips and reigned in my agitation.
“Then youlearn. You are set to marry the Lord of Vespera. Do you think he wouldn’t give you access to the Academy if you demanded it?”
Ellowyn chewed her lip and shrugged her shoulders.
“Are you going to continue whining, or are you going to grow up and figure out a way to actually help?”
She bristled at my comment, but I continued. “You talk about wanting to help people, about wanting to do good. But all I’ve seen is you lamenting your situation. There are people who would kill to be given the opportunity you have right now—to become the Lady of Vespera and have the opportunity to change Elyria for the better. Which are you, Ellowyn? Are you going to seize this opportunity, or are you truly just a girl with a pretty face?”
Ellowyn was silent for a long moment, and I feared I had pushed too far.
Fate will not be happy with me.
“Ihatehim, Pip. I hate him so much,” Ellowyn admitted finally, but the self-pity was absent from her voice, replaced with a fire I’d not yet seen from her.
Finally.
“Then use that, Ellowyn. Use that hate to find a way to do some good here. To fix what is broken. By any means necessary.”
She withdrew her hands from mine before swiping at the lingering tears beneath her eyes. Slowly, Ellowyn rose from the floor and donned the mask her mother forced upon her in Hestin.
“Fine,” she bit out. “Ready me for my wedding.”
The atmosphere changed with her words—it felt less like a funeral and more like she was preparing for battle.
I crossed the room and opened the large, dark wood armoire before selecting the white gown hiding in the back. Like her Awakening dress, it was tailored to fit Ellowyn like a glove. Unlike the monstrosity her mother fashioned for her ceremony, Ellowyn’s wedding dress was soft and slender, hugging each of her curves; the neckline was low but not obscene, and exposed the top part of her breasts while the sleeves were long and extended far past her hands. There was no corset to be found, just miles of soft, white silk.
Ellowyn stood stoically in the middle of the room, refusing to look at herself in the mirror as I quickly dressed her before securing her miles of white-blonde hair into a bun at the nape of her neck.
“By any means necessary,” she whispered to herself as I applied the last touches of makeup to her face, finishing minutes before a knock sounded on her door.
“By any means necessary,” I repeated.
“Will you be waiting? When I return?” Ellowyn asked, her voice carefully devoid of emotion, though the slight caress of her bracelet gave away her feelings. I placed one of my palms over her fingers and squeezed silently, but didn’t answer her. The second rap on her door was louder, more insistent, and she shot me a small smile before steeling herself. The mask her mother enforced on her in Hestin was well in place before she strode to the door and opened it.
“I’m ready,” she told the Mage guard on the other side. He escorted her out and closed the door without a glance inside.
My chest heaved and my hands shook as I quickly left the way I came.
