Page 31 of A Tribute of Fire

“Lia, you can’t possibly believe in that—”

“I do believe! Someone has to or else we’re all doomed.” I gripped her hands tightly. “Six months. Tell him that you have to finish yourdress before you wed him. And then every night undo whatever you’ve woven that day. Anything to delay.”

I’d already lost Haemon, might potentially lose Quynh. I wasn’t going to let Kallisto be destroyed by an evil man.

“Swear it to me,” I said.

“I swear it. Six months.”

A sigh of relief escaped me. One less thing to worry about. It wasn’t in her nature to scheme or lie, but she had sworn it to me, and Kallisto always kept her word.

“I should go check on Mother,” she said.

I nodded and we hugged before she quietly left my room.

When the door shut and the darkness enveloped me again, I knew that I should try to sleep. I needed it.

But it eluded me. I lay there with my eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. There were only a few hours before the sun would rise and it would be time to leave.

I had to hope that the arrival of the dawn would bring me a solution to keep both Quynh and me safe.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

But all the dawn brought was a knock on my door, telling me that we had to dress and prepare to leave.

In the past the maidens had been given a week or more with their families after the selection, but too many either tried to run away or had chosen to take their own lives to avoid the tribute, so the process moved more quickly now.

Quynh and I got ready in silence. I strapped my dagger to my thigh. I highly doubted that the Ilionians would bother to check whether I had a weapon. I took my potful of Locrian soil and covered it with a tight cloth, putting it into my satchel.

Along with two tiny daggers that I planned on sliding into my belt later.

I also packed up food for once the race began, along with a full waterskin. I had several bags of salt that were worth their weight in gold in Ilion. Demaratus had always taught me to overprepare.

My family waited for us in the hallway outside my room. My mother immediately burst into tears, throwing her arms around my neck. I kept trying to soothe her, but she was bordering on hysterical.

Then she turned her attention to Quynh, continuing to sob. Quynh cried with her.

I held to my promise to myself. I would not shed another tear. I would master my emotions. They would not control me.

I would stay calm and clearheaded. No matter what.

Mother was saying something, but her words were unintelligible. I went over to hug both her and Quynh, and then our father and sister did the same. We stood there as a group, Mother’s heart still loudly breaking, until Andronicus approached.

“It’s time,” he said, his face lined with grief and pain.

I was the one who pulled away first. “I love all of you. So much.” I was doing this for them, and it was destroying me that I couldn’t tell them.

And each one of them said they loved me in return. I let those words sink deep into my heart. I would use them as fuel for my fire so that I would keep going no matter what. Quynh shared her own words of love and gratitude that were returned.

“We will walk with you,” my father said.

“No.” I wasn’t sure I would be able to maintain my composure if I had to see them standing on the docks as we sailed away. “Let this be our goodbye. And we will do everything in our power to return to you.”

Father nodded and I saw the unshed tears in his eyes.

“We are so proud of both of you,” he said. “I’m so grateful that I got to be your father.”

I shook my head. I wouldn’t let him do that. He would continue to be our father for the rest of our lives.

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