Page 151 of The Starlight Savior

The crowd descended into silence as the mortals and wielders held their breaths. Saige’s palm sat upon her chest, urging her body to relax. To soothe the sharp jagged pain threatening to splinter through her skin.

Her aunt, her only blood family, was going to give her up to Tiranos?

“How could you?” Saige whispered.

Red blotches traveled up Eva’s face, blending with the mess of bruises Tiranos had given her. “They swore they’d bring Oscar back if they had a starlight-wielder in their army! They knew about Lyla, but they didn’t know about you. Until…”

“Until you gave all of Opela my fucking name. Despite my father telling you not to.”

“We could’ve been together again, Saige. My brother. My niece.”

“In Tiranos?” The ground shook as Saige shouted. Lightning crackled in the sky as Conor’s fists balled. “Do you realize what they do to starlight-wielders, Eva? They drain them. Slaughter them. They take everything until there is nothing but corpses and pain left in their wake.” Saige took a step forward, ignoring Baron and Althea reaching out to grasp her. When she stood over her aunt, she finally allowed the tears to fall down her cheeks. “Oscar was never coming back. Whether they swore it or not.”

Anya’s grip loosened as Eva bowed her head. Her aunt’s hands dug into the decayed ground, fingernails torn and raw. For weeks she had watched her aunt wither away. Saige believed it was from the sight of seeing her dead brother’s child. The pressure of the mist looming towards them.

Yet it had been Tiranos all along.

“There will be no bloodshed if you join us, Saige Nerestel. Your aunt, your only relative, will live. Your companions can return to their cozy kingdoms. With the power of Tiranos, you can heal the mist. But that is the only way. Your aunt signed your life in blood the moment she agreed to my deal.” Queen Anya reached down, tugging the sleeve of Eva’s dress. A blood bond was marked upon her forearm, bright red. Pus oozed from the wound, dozens of ink markings forming a silhouette of a crashing wave. “There is no other way. Just as your aunt warned.”

“I will not be a prisoner on your island,” Saige snarled, “not like Cecilia.”

The only sign of surprise to the mention of the starlight-wielder was a cock to Anya’s head. “So you refuse?”

“I fight for no kingdom, only myself. And as a starlight witch, I am destined to uphold Sydera’s wishes of a free and just land. There is no room for such things in Tiranos.”

“So be it.” Anya shrugged, holding out her palm. Myles passed his sword to his queen, glimmering water dancing up and down the blade. Anya gripped it tightly before turning upon Eva. With a quick sweep, the blade moved across her neck. Blood burst from the wound, but Eva didn’t cry out. Her body swayed as blood poured down from the front of her dress. Her head lifted to the air as a gargled sound came out of her mouth. But Saige could make out one word from her aunt’s cracked lips.

Oscar.

Chapter 58

The world around Saige felt like water slipping through her fingers. Her vision tunneled in on her aunt tumbling to the ground, unable to fathom the sight before her. There she laid. Finding the same fate as Saige’s mother and father.

All for a broken dream. Empty promises.

“Get her,” Anya said curtly, nodding towards Saige. “I want her uninjured.” The queen retreated behind a wall of water-wielders.

The world around them erupted in a flurry of swings and dodges, strikes of lightning shooting across the crowd from Conor’s hands. Saige leapt back right before Myles could grab her. Orbs of water ascended across the sky, but Baron blocked them with a shield he must’ve found. Saige ignored the lump forming in her throat at Eva’s discarded body as she ran towards the crowd. She reached for the dagger lodged into her boot, but Althea stopped her with her arm.

“You need to stick to the plan!” she shouted over the clash of steel and sparks.

“But—”

“This will all be for nothing if you don’t!" Althea twisted towards an approaching soldier, driving her dagger up into his chest with a wet twist.

So she did know how to use it.

There was no time to argue any longer. Tiranos’s arrival had delayed her enough. Falling to the ground once again, she felt her knees bark in pain. She pushed her hands upon the earth, but the moment she closed her eyes, Eva’s face flashed upon her eyelids.

How could Eva have done such a thing? Traded her life for the return of another? Saige wasn’t knowledgeable enough about magic to know whether such a task could be accomplished. But grief often did twisted things. Saige found herself replaying every moment in her mind, dissecting each word and gesture shared with her aunt.

Maybe there was a moment where it had all gone wrong, her aunt surrendering herself in a moment of weakness. Or had Eva doomed Saige from the start?

Her breaths were shallow as she tried to dispel Eva from her mind. As much as she wanted to wallow in her grief, there’d be nothing to wallow in if Opela was consumed. She imagined a box in her mind, shoving it all away, until there’d be a moment to breathe in the pain threatening to pierce her.

Before another thought could smother her, a soldier ran forward.

A shaky hand rose. Protect, she thought as a ball of heat shot from her palm and into the man’s face. White flames latched onto the collar of the soldier’s jacket, licking up his neck. He screamed, stumbling backwards as he tried to pat it out. But the light kept growing, consuming the soldier’s uniform and flesh. Saige averted her eyes as his body crumbled to the ground in blackened bones.