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Maeve watches her go, then follows Her soldiers leave in her wake

Raffaele aze and sits back down in his chair "Your sister is groeaker," he says "Our nearness to the origin of Laetes’s fall has intensified our connections to the gods, and it is ravaging our bodies She will not last er"

I stare at Violetta’s face She furrows her brows, as if aware ofof e once lay side by side on identical beds, struck down by the blood fever Soiano, then Raffaele "Give iano for his silence He squeezes my hand once, then turns away and steps out of the tent

Raffaele stares at me, doubt on his face He doesn’t trust you alone with her That is what you inspire, little wolf, a cloud of suspicion Perhaps that’s what the expression is--or perhaps it is guilt, soret for all that has happened between us, all that could have been avoided Whatever it htens the clasp of his cloak and folds his hands into his sleeves, then moves toward the tent flap Before he can step out, he turns back to me

"Let yourself rest," he says "You will need it, mi Adelinetta"

Mi Adelinetta

My breath catches; the whispers go still The o, when I sat with hi With the memory comes a rush of wistful joy, followed by unbearable sadness I hadn’t realized how much I missed that day I want to tell hier in the air, though, words I haven’t heard from him in yearsand soirl buried long ago

On the bed, Violetta lets out a soft hts I lean closer to her She takes a deep, rasping breath, and then her eyes flutter open

I hold Violetta’s hand, weavingto the touch, darkened by overlapping h it I can feel the bond of blood between us, strengthened by our Elite powers Her eyes search the room, confused, and then wander up to my face "Adelina," she whispers

"I’m here--" I start to reply, but she interruptsa mistake, Adelina," she says, her head now turned to her side I blink, trying to understand what shein a feverish state, and perhaps not even aware of where she is

"I want to turn back," she whispers "But your Inquisitors--they are searching everywhere for me They have their swords drawn I think you may have ordered them to kill me when they find me" Her voice cracks with dryness, hoarse and weak "I want to help you You’re hs "Ime what happened after she fled the palace, after my illusions had overwhelmed me and she had turned on me--after I had turned on her A lump rises in my throat I take a seat in Raffaele’s chair, then lean toward her again

"I toldyou back," I murmur "Unharmed I searched for you for weeks, but you had already leftsounds shallow and uneven "Took a ship bound for Tahtens around ers?" I sound bitter now, anda scene around me of the days after Violetta had first lefttrays of supper from servants How I conjured blackness over the skies of Kenettra, blocking out the sun for days How I’d burned parchments in the fire after my Inquisition patrols would write me, one after another, that they could not find her "How could you?"

"I followed the energy of other Elites across the sea," Violetta murmurs in a trance Sweat drips down the side of her face as she shifts uneasily again "I followed Raffaele, and I found him He found ht he could help you I begged hiround" Her lashes are wet now, barely holding tears back Beneath her lids, her eyes ed him every day, even as we heard you sent your new navy to invade Merroutas"

My hand clenches harder around Violetta’s Merroutas, I’d orderedthe un them out into the streets before me My fury seethed, day after day "I couldn’t find you," I snap, irritated at the tears that spring to my eye "Why didn’t you send me a dove? Why didn’t you letain, vacant and gray, bleeding color, and find me "Raffaele says you are lost forever That you are beyond help I think he’s wrong, but he sheds tears for you and shakes his head I’ent "I think I’ll try again torily wipe my tears away "I don’t understand you," I whisper back "Why do you have to keep trying?"

Violetta’s lips tremble with effort "You cannot harden your heart to the future just because of your past You cannot use cruelty against yourself to justify cruelty to others" Her gray eyes slide doard, away fro low near the tent flap "It is hard I know you are trying"