Page 73 of Requiem of Silence

“Sister. Are you not happy to see me?” You spoke these words once not too long ago, before she cruelly betrayed you and stole your Songs.

Now she stares, her face a mask. “Happier than I was to receive the gifts you sent. Those were from you, were they not?”

“Gifts?”

“Three of them. I cannot say they were welcome, however, and I should not like to receive any more.”

You chuckle. “I wish I could take the credit, but alas, I am far less free than I would like to be. Unable to give to you what I truly would like to.”

“Did you trade one cage for another?” A smile is in her voice. It warms you some. You have missed her.

“A more gilded version and quite a bit cooler.”

“I have been looking for you,” she says.

“You prefer me in your prison to someone else’s.”

“I would prefer you free, if you could manage it. I will come and get you; where are you?”

“Honestly, I cannot say. Though I am no maiden in need of rescuing. And you and I have very different ideas about freedom. Besides, I have a plan.”

She raises an eyebrow. “And you think I will help?”

“Did you not just offer to help?”

“I offered to retrieve you, that is different.”

“Perhaps. But I have a question for you.”

“And I for you, brother. What is it, exactly, that you want?” Her voice is low and slow.

“What I always wanted, dear sister. Equality.”

A hint of worry flickers across her gaze. “What is it you want to ask?”

“I am having some difficulty recollecting—are you familiar with Yllis’s research when he studied the blood magic? I know he showed you his journals.” An expression close to heartbreak crosses her face at the mention of her former lover. A pang of regret hits you. You had to kill him after all, but that was war. He would have killed you first.

“What are you asking me?” she rasps.

“Before things between us soured, when he would still share his discoveries, he had mentioned exploring more complex ways of combining blood magic and Earthsong. Did he ever use Nethersong as well? And did he succeed?”

She shakes her head. “What makes you think I would help you in what you seek? Especially when you would only use it against me.”

“I have never given you more trouble than you could handle, dear sister. However, some things are inevitable. Things likeyour love for me.” You smile widely and almost feel that it is genuine. Her love is real, as is yours, honestly, but she has always loved you ineffectually. Or perhaps it was becauseyouwere ineffectual back then. Her love felt more suited for a puppy or some small, soft thing to be petted and cooed at but not respected. In that way she was like Sayya. The girl from so many years ago for whom you named a city. You would have been true to her, but she rejected you. The pain of heartbreak still threatens to tear you apart.

Sayya is long dead. Could you bring her back from the Eternal Flame? Or was she reborn into another life, had other loves? You wrangle your thoughts back from this precipice.

“I will not help you with the dead, brother. I will not help you destroy this place. And nothing that Yllis knew will help you, either, he had no experience with what you are trying to do.”

“I’m not so sure you know what Yllis had experience with. And did you not say you wished to see me free?”

“If you could manage it without harming anyone. If you could find the light of goodness within your nature. I believe it is still there. What would you do with your freedom, I wonder?” A shudder rolls through her, and she turns sharply, looking off behind her as if she heard something.

“When will you return?” she asks, turning back.

“When it is time. When I can reclaim what is mine.”

“None of this is yours, brother. And no one living will allow you to take it back.”

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