Page 21 of When Sisters Collide
Katell exhaled slowly, bracing herself. The night was about to spiral into a storm of accusations and consequences. She already anticipated Tyrrhenus would summon Dorias, demand answers, and punish the Black Helmets.
She wouldn’t allow it. Not again. Not after what happened to Atticus.
If blame was coming, she’d take it all. She should have kept a closer watch on Tia and stopped Larth before he drew his swords.
Tyrrhenus approached with the confidence of a seasoned Rasennan commander. His red-plumed helmet caught the firelight, casting shifting shadows across his face. But when his stern expression fixed on Katell, all words flew out of her head.
His right eye was a typical dark brown, set in a weathered face scarred by war.
But the other… gleamed with an ethereal silver light.
The eye of an Amazon.
Unmistakable—and implanted in the legate’s eye socket.
Many seek to take our eyes for themselves.
The ground seemed to drop beneath her boots. In an instant, the campfires faded, replaced by the suffocating dark of the arena’s underground. The smell of blood and sweat clogged her nose. The stifling heat in her cell by day and the biting cold at night enveloped her, dragging her back into a past she’d fought to forget.
Her jaw clenched so hard her teeth throbbed.
“State your name, soldier.” Tyrrhenus’ sharp words sliced through the haze.
His Amazon eye sparkled like a diamond. It was a beautiful Gift bestowed by the Huntress.
A sacred Gift.
Not some trophy ripped from an Amazon’s skull and worn by a Rasennan.
Something deep inside her cracked. Fury surged, black, sudden, and rising fast.
When she didn’t speak, Larth shifted beside her. “Katell…”
“They’re Black Helmets, sir. From the Sixth,” another soldier cut in.
Tyrrhenus’ gaze snapped back to her. “Black Helmets?” His brow furrowed. “Then you are?—”
“Where did you get that eye?” Katell stepped closer, peering at the silver gleam. Whoever had implanted it must have been Gifted; there was no visible scarring, nothing to indicate it had been stolen.
The legate recoiled in alarm. One of his men lunged forward, gripping her shoulder. “That’s close enough. Answer the legate’s question.”
No one is taking your eyes.
Katell shrugged off the soldier’s grip and took another step forward. “I said”—her voice was low and lethal—“where did you get that eye?”
Blades hissed from their sheaths. Shouts rang out. But Katell’s focus tunnelled down to Tyrrhenus—the tight line of his mouth, the deep frown between his brows, and that damn glittering eye.
An eye he had no right to claim.
“It was a reward,” the legate replied, holding her gaze without shame.
“Reward?” Katell’s voice sounded distant to her own ears, barely a whisper.
Fury swelled, bleeding through every vein until she thought she might drown in it. It mingled with her magic and pulsed at her fingertips, aching to be unleashed.
Amid the raging storm, Nik’s voice rang out, clear as on that fateful night they’d shared chained in their cells.You fight, and no matter what, you keep your promise to Sinope.
“For my loyalty,” the legate went on.
