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"If you do so for ained, deciding I should play this cool

"Within reason, so for you," Talbott agreed

"I would like you to pass ato A it would be so

"Auard

"Yes, I want you to tell her that her brother is fine, that he is h even happy and that he will have his

"You want e to A

"Yes, and to absolutely no one else, not even your prince And tell her she can't tell anyone either," I added a to cover my tracks uselessly I was seriously the worst Rebellion leader in the history of rebellions

"Sebastian toldto kill him?" Talbott questioned not only my sincerity but also ht" I rolled ement

"Then ould you have me tell his little sister that he's Ok?" he pressed, more confused than ever

"Because," I shrieked, fed up with this whole situation, "because if it were ht, I would want to believe that everything was going to work out, even if it wasn't true I would want to believe it every single minute until somebody could tell me differently, that's why So do we have a deal or not?" I raised h and tears fell hot down my cheeks

I wiped at the away from Talbott to stare out theat a blue, cloudless sky Talbott rereard and tense I pulled ether, but remained adamant that our deal would stay the sae to deht, Eden I will tell her," Talbott agreed after several more minutes of silence "And Eden?" I turned back to hirew soft, almost sensitive "Your brother is Ok"

I didn't respond I kneas offeringor as happening to him But, he had takenresponse His generosity dazedon opposite sides of the war, but those words were an offer of hope, an enticement to continue the mission and they came from Talbott of all people

He had matured over the last few nized He embodied authority, and was infinitely more mature than Kiran, but now he could add co list of skills This new side of him made me root for Lilly and him even more I didn't knoould work out, how it could possibly end with theether, but sometimes relationships don't make sense or fit into natural order, sometimes are ritten in the stars

I shook erous That was true for Lilly and Talbott but nobody else As Jericho said, Talbott was probably going to die at the end of this thing anyway

We spent the rest of the trip in silence I eventually dozed off and when I awoke, ere circling an endless desert, ai for what felt like a miniscule airstrip surrounded by sand forlong shadows across the golden sand dunes

I had never been to the desert before, the vastness of the sand amazed me It felt very much like the ocean when you stood with your feet just touching the tide, and looked out to never-ending water The sand flowed outwards in the sa the horizon in every direction

Landing on the s this far away fro or anyone and couldn't I wasstranded this far from help would be a death sentence, that much I knew

I breathed deeply as Talbott shut the engine off, reic, that I would survive, even if the plan were literally to abandon me to the wild nature of the endless sand dunes I rolled e deep within I needed to be the first one off the plane to establish authority It wouldn't say much about my leadership skills if I just let Talbott exit the plane alone, while I cowered in the cockpit

I clearedoutfor a turquoise scarf with gold detailing, that Naiave to me in India It was a beautiful piece of fabric, but I bristled at the idea of co off flashy Still, the wind blew violently across the sand, picking it up and scattering a million specks at a ti it over my mouth for protection