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“You question my dedication to this mission? How long have I been gone?”
“In our time? Some years,” he replies with a dismissive shrug that does nothing to tamp down my ire.
Someone mutters, “Too long.” But I can’t quite work out who.
“And yet in Earth time it’s been decades. Maybe longer. I wouldn’t know without full access to my memories. Being away from Aerwyna for such a long period of time is not the only sacrifice I have made,” I retort with barely controlled anger.
When you come of age, everyone in Aerwyna is assigned a role. You cannot turn your role down. I didn’t ask to be assigned to the Queen’s Guard. I didn’t ask to give up my family, to turn my back on my little sisters who needed me, or to call off my engagement.
Being in the Queen’s Guard is literally the only position that changes your life so drastically. While all of my peers got positions they wanted and their happily ever afters, I was left feeling like I was being punished for something; I never wanted this.
“What more would you have me do?”
I love my queen, I wouldn’t change my position for the world now. But I still resent being accused of not doing enough to save our people.
“What would you be willing to do?”
“Anything.”
“Good. Remember that, Sorapo. Remember that.”
“Why do you keep referring to me that way?” I demand, forgetting my place momentarily.
It’s Ayomide who replies. “Omo, you are so bitter. Your soul threads are twisted and frayed. Tangled so badly we fear you might never find your way home. If you are to find the Star to save our queen and our people, you must first save yourself.”
“How?”
“Sacrifice everything.”
“I already did.” My tone is as bitter as the ocean.
“Did you? Or were you set free of the bonds that shackled you? Only to replace them with resentment, anger and unnecessary vices. When the time comes, Omí Saidé, you will have to make a choice. And I fear that the weight of our world doesn’t rest on the Star’s shoulders, but on yours.”
