Page 11 of The Reckoning of Starlight

Then Ayla’s will speared through Serenna’s shoulders, into her fingers. Her arms snapped to her sides, rigid and useless, while her mind clawed against the stolen motion.

The enforcers shoved her forward.

A figure strode through the dust, tall and armored, golden hair bound in braids.

Familiar, though Serenna couldn’t place her.

Serenna turned just in time to watch the female rip the spears from Fenn’s wings. His blood poured dark across the maroon membranes when she yanked him to his feet.

Serenna stumbled as the enforcers pushed her from the arena.

The roar of the crowd swelled behind her, rising again. They cheered the Vallende name Ayla had forced her to fight for, and the sound followed Serenna into the tunnel.

Light fell away.

The Coliseum’s noise thinned behind her, swallowed by stone until only the ragged pull of her breathing remained. Blood slipped warm from a cut she couldn’t remember taking, trickling from her shoulder.

The enforcers threw her back into the same cell she’d woken up in. Her knees cracked against the stone, cold biting through her leathers.

Across the corridor, the golden-haired female hauled Fenn into another chamber and dumped him onto the ground. He hit hard, wings sagging behind him, talons scraping the floor as he tried to rise.

Serenna lunged to reach him.

Violet shields snapped across both cell openings, searing the dim tunnel bright. Serenna’s palms struck the one before her, the impact shuddering through her wrists.

She staggered back, breath hissing through her teeth.

Close enough to see. Too far to touch.

She reached for Fenn through the bond, searching for the pulse that should’ve beat beside her own, but the gold smothered every trace of him and Vesryn.

Footsteps rang through the passage.

The line of enforcers parted for Ayla, their white armor clattering as she passed between them. Serenna’s stolen Starshard glittered at her throat. Above the gleam in Ayla’s victorious eyes, another shard glinted in her diadem.

A queen dressed in stolen light.

Serenna threw herself at the shield.

The impact knocked her back. The gem at Ayla’s throat flared, and her control ripped down Serenna’s spine.

Serenna’s knees slammed into the stone.

Ayla halted before her cell.

Serenna’s fingers curled against her palms. “They were children.” Her voice cracked as it rose. “Children.”

Ayla tilted her head. “Must you? They’re already dead.”

The words struck colder than the cell floor.

“They begged. You watched—”

“I watched your performance,” Ayla interrupted. “And so did every noble in the arena.”

Serenna’s eyes burned dry.

Ayla could’ve taken control if Serenna had refused—she’d already felt the Starshard seize her body. But her sister hadn’t needed to steer the final storm. She’d only staked Fenn in the sand and waited until Serenna chose him.