“A well-crafted lie. Serrane uses it to gather people and harvest their Threads without raising suspicion. By the time most are missed, their Threads are already his. The ones Talen reaches first, we bring here.”
A tremor runs through me.
Finn.
Oh god.
The image hits before I can stop it. Him out there somewhere, being held down, having the best parts of him torn away. Leaving behind only darkness.
No. There has to be a way to find him, to bring him back. Ezzy can’t lose both of them. I have to be able to save him. Because if I can’t… then why the hell am I even here?
“So why me?” I demand as we move through the growing flow of people. “What do I have to do with any of this?”
“This isn't a one-person war, but there are certain people who change what is possible. And I believe you're one of them.” Merrin’s icy blue eyes sharpen as they settle on me. “I saw the same potential in your mother. Not just strength, but range. More than we’d seen in centuries. I had hoped she would join us, fight alongside us. But I pushed her too hard and she left.”
“Why didn’t you just tell her about this?” I throw an arm out toward the tents, not quite buying what he’s saying. “About the Movement. About Serrane.”
“I tried.” His stride remains steady. “I went to her, but your father had just been taken, Reassigned, and she wasn’t interested in anything I had to say.Youwere all that mattered. Keeping you alive—that was the only thing she would fight for.”
“If any of that is true—if you think I’m supposed to be some kind ofweapon—” My mouth hardens around the word. “Then why not bring me here straight away?”
“You were raised an Outerlander, my dear. And these...” He gestures to the tents, the people moving through them. “...these are Innerlanders. You spent your whole life learning to hate them. So tell me—would you have come here willingly? Stood beside them. Fought for them. Protected them?”
Following his gaze, I take everything in. At first, the moving bodies don’t look so different from me—dust-stained clothes, worn boots, hands busy with work. For a second, they could almost pass for Outerlanders. But the longer I watch, the more it shows. It’s in the way they move, easy and unguarded, the way they speak to each other without hesitation. No distance. No suspicion. Like they belong together.
Innerlanders.
God, the word sits so differently now. A year ago, they would have just been the enemy. The people who took, who hoarded, who didn’t care what it cost the rest of us. But now?—
Ezzy’s face flashes first. Then Finn. Rowan. Not so different. Not enemies.
People.Friends.
“No.” My response lands heavier than I want it to. “No, you’re right, I wouldn’t have come.”
Merrin dips his head once, satisfaction settling into his features. It hits wrong and my jaw locks before I can stop it.
“But my friend died.” Each word is barbed, laced with resentment. “The other was taken. And all that time—you were just watching?”
“Yes, well, unfortunately that was not part of the plan.” His voice doesn't waver. “But it is unfortunately part of life. I put you in the Citadel because it was the one place you could become strongest. While we can do some training here, it is nothing like what you received there. I also needed you to see and experience what we are up against, that life is not so black and white, that things are more grey and complicated than they appear.”
A bitter laugh claws its way up my throat. “I almost died!”
Merrin slows, then stops as the centre of the camp opens up before us. A wide clearing stretches around a large tent pitched at its heart, with horses tethered along one side and supplies stacked in uneven rows. The rich scent of sausages drifts from within. Ahria flies ahead, obviously still hungry. My stomach turns, but not for the same reason as Merrin pivots to fully face me.
“Sometimes,” he lectures, interlacing his hands in front of him, “things must be broken before they can be rebuilt. And I made sure you were never in any serious danger. After yourattempted escape through the tunnels, I asked Talen to keep a close eye on you.”
Since the tunnels? My forehead creases. But Talen said he’d wanted to keep me safe ever since he saw me in the courtyard that first day.
“Why should I even trust you?” Crossing my arms, I glare at him. “What you’ve done is unforgivable.”
“Luckily, unlike Talen, I do not require your forgiveness. However, everything I just told you—about Serrane, about the dragons, about the weapon he is building—is true.”
As the last word leaves his mouth, a tiny golden string floats free from his lips, crossing the short distance between us before sinking into my chest. He watches it land, watches realisation shift across my face, then takes a step back.
“I pushed your mother too far once, and I won’t make that mistake again. So this is your choice now. No bargain. No deal. If you want to leave?—”
“No. No, I'm staying.”
