Page 33 of A Vow of Embers

They pinned white gardenias in my hair, put new sandals on my feet, and Io spritzed me with more iris perfume. When they had finally finished, my adelphia stepped back to survey their handiwork.

“You are a vision,” Ahyana said with a happy sigh. “It’s too bad you have to be celibate. The prince is going to be driven to madness when he sees you.”

“Ahyana!” her older sister chastised her.

“What? It seems like a waste.”

I was glad that they thought I looked nice. Not for the prince’s sake, but for my own. I was doing this for me. For Quynh.

For Locris.

Io handed me the wedding ring and I supposed it was time. I slid it onto the ring finger on my left hand. That was one tradition that seemed to be the same in Ilion and Locris. Because the vein in that finger ran to the heart.

It fit perfectly, as if he somehow knew the exact size of my fingers, and that thought sent tiny little bolts up my arm that I ignored.

“I’ll make sure all of your things get sent to the palace,” Io said.

“Thank you. Can I have my dagger?” I already had my xiphos strapped to my thigh.

Zalira handed it to me and I slid it into my girdle.

“Why do you need that?” Io sounded a bit alarmed.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to stab your brother. We have a deal.”

She gave me a weak smile. There was a knock at the door. Suri went over to open it and Maia was there, holding her torch.

“Lia, it’s time,” she said. She walked to the middle of the alley and waited for me.

“It’s too soon,” I said as a lump formed in my throat. I would not allow myself to cry. I wasn’t ready to leave my sisters.

Ahyana hugged me first. “I’ll send Kunguru to come check on you. He’ll let me know how you’re doing.”

“I’ll give him all the news,” I said as I hugged her back.

Then it was Zalira’s turn. “Protect your heart,” she whispered into my ear.

Of all my sisters, it felt like she was the only one who truly understood what I was walking into, given the feelings I’d once had forthe prince and what had passed between us. She had been in love herself and so she alone had guessed how hard this was for me.

Suri was next. She put her hand over her heart and then reached out to put it on top of mine.

“I love you, too,” I told her, my throat feeling too tight again.No crying,I reminded myself.

Io was the only one left and it occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t have saved her for last.

She took both of my hands in hers. “I know we’re not back to where we were and I wish that I could prove myself to you. I also wish we had more time.”

“So do I,” I told her.

“You are the sister of my heart, and now my actual sister.” She hugged me fiercely and I returned it just as tightly.

She was crying when she stepped away from me and I swallowed down the emotions I was feeling.

I couldn’t think about the fact that I wasn’t going to see them again. I had left my regiment in Locris, Demaratus, my family, and that had nearly killed me. I could do it again. I could start over.

But for some reason this separation felt different. I didn’t want to go. It was as if I’d cut off a limb and was leaving it behind.

“I love you all,” I said.

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