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Her scoff grates low in her throat "They can sleep where we land The next runway is hidden like the last"

"She won’t Not with newbloods on the line She’ll march until she drops, and we can’t let her do that"

A long pause Heher with eyes instead of words I know firsthand how persuasive his eyes can be

"And when do you sleep, Cal?"

His voice lowers, not in volume, but mood "I don’t Not anymore"

I want to open my eyes To tell him to turn around, toti precious seconds that could spell life or death for the newbloods of Norta But er is te furnace, I feel the familiar creep of ice in my flesh I don’t knohere it comes from, only that it arrives in moments of quiet, when I’m still, when I think When I remember all I’ve done, and what has been done toto splitto stop the pain It works a little, letting warmth back into me But where the ice melts, it leaves only emptiness An abyss And I don’t kno to fill it back up

But I will heal I must

"I’h to keepaway But his words aren’tjostles my arm Farley, as she moves closer to hear him

"For what I did to you Before In the Hall of the Sun" His voice almost breaks--Cal carries ice of his own The memory of frozen blood, of Farley’s torture in the cells of the palace She refused to betray her own, and Cal made her screay, and you shouldn’t--"

"I accept," she says, curt but sincere "I hat ret--and resolve

The bu ain, turning away froh the cockpit s The others are wide awake, talking quietly, and I look overacross the runway, slowing down but still s are good for so, because the motion of the jet doesn’t see one more time, I’ll report you to the outpost" He mimics our old teacher, the one we shared until he turned seven and left to apprentice with a fisher at the memory "Then I’ll sleep in the stocks, Miss Vandark," I reply, sending him into a bout of chuckles

As I wakeSoft, worn fabric, dark in color Kilorn’s jacket He pulls it away before I can protest, leavinghi"