Shay paced angrily from one end of the room to the other, like a caged lion. She chewed on a nail nervously, her blue eyes wide. Vanir lounged, shirtless, on the bed, his eyes following her with a casual air.

"I can't just sit here," Shay moaned.

"You aren't sitting."

Shay's eyes flickered to him, but she didn't stop pacing. "I've got to do something, Vanir."

"Everwood, I've been given my assignment."

Arya's orders were clear – she dies at dawn. Vanir had been assigned to make sure Shay didn't do anything to get in the way of that.

Shay looked at him, and for a moment, Vanir saw the pain she was in. The look in her eyes was that of a Rider torn from his dragon. Wanting, fear, hurt. Loneliness.

"I don't care," she told him. "I'm leaving. I'm sick of being treated like a child having a time out." She moved towards the door.

In the blink of an eye, Vanir was off the bed, across the room, and grabbing her wrist tightly. "Everwood," he let her name hang in the air like a threat.

Shay pulled away from him, as if scalded. She said nothing, but anger flashed across her face.

"I've been told to keep you here," Vanir said softly. "Through any means necessary. Please don't make me do that."

The look in Shay's eyes pulled at Vanir's heart. He hated seeing her like this; her playful violence replaced my anger and desperation.

"She didn't do anything wrong, Vanir," Shay whispered.

Rage flared in Vanir. "Nothing wrong?" he snapped, pushing her away, against the wall in his anger. "Nothing wrong? Everwood, she burned Ellesméra! She destroyed everything that meant anything to me!" He turned away, dragging his arm over his eyes, as if to wipe away dust. "My home."

Shay spun him to face her. "Your home, Vanir?" she spit, fixing him with an angry gaze. "What about my home?"

He didn't respond, staring spitefully at her.

"Oh, that's right," she hissed. "I don't have a home."

Vanir opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

"I don't belong anywhere. Not with Orrin, not here." Her hands clenched into fists. "Certainly not here." She looked at him, the rage softening into sadness. "Vanir, Lily is my home. She's all I have left to cling to. I've…I've lived for two years, thinking that she was gone."

She wiped away a tear that glistened on her cheek. "It tore me apart. And now she's here and…I can't go through that again, Vanir."

Vanir wanted to bring her close, hold her tightly and rock her in his arms. But he didn't.

Shay met his solemn gaze. "If she dies tomorrow," she told him, "I kill myself at her side."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lily couldn't sleep. Her heart beat fast in her chest.

It wasn't the death that scared her, she tried to convince herself. No, death was welcome. Death would free her from her terrible oaths, free her from the control that was ten thousand times worse than rape. She was a slave in her own body, a slave to a man she hated.

No, she was thankful for the death, just as she was thankful for the tight ropes that secured her to the tree, keeping her from committing more evils.

But she was still scared. Her heart still raced.

Her elf guard stood, still as a statue in the darkness. He hadn't moved yet. Lily had tried to talk to him, but when he looked at her, the hating in his eyes was as clear as Arya's. She had burned his home. That was unforgivable.

She had remained silent after that.

The stars burned brightly above her, like glittering drops of hope.

Oh, Murtagh, she thought. I'll miss you so much.

She tried to think about their kiss, the one she had given him as a goodbye. The memory hurt too much, and she pushed it away. She was never going to see him again.

Doubts plagued her mind. She could accept death, but what about Shay? Murtagh? The little girl, Rune? What would befall them, after she was gone? Would the Riders triumph over evil, or was Alagäsia doomed? She would never know.

Lily wasn't sure when it was that she fell asleep. All she could remember was waking to the feeling of Shay in her mind. Her elf guard laid sprawled on the ground in front of her, another man standing over him. Lily recognized him as Vanir, the elf who had held Shay. She couldn't see his face, but from the way he held himself he look annoyed, a bit bemused, and more than a little nervous.

She eyes automatically flew to the sky. Dawn had not yet arrived, but nor did the stars glitter in the sky. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon.

Shruikan Darkbane and Thorn sat a few yards back, yellow eyes observing quietly. Shruikan's claws were clicking impatiently against the ground.

Lily wanted to say something, but Shay shushed her in her mind.

Shay's long, tapered fingers worked quickly on Lily's bindings, loosening her hands. The process was agonizingly slow. Lily reached out to Shay and renewed their connection, wonderful, brilliant. Shay's emotions – joy, fear, exhilaration – blended and danced in her mind until she wasn't sure what was hers and what was Shay's.

Shay finally managed to undo the ropes. She helped Lily to her feet, and their eyes met. Time seemed to freeze for both. Blue and green blended, and they embraced.

Lily never wanted to let go.

Shay squeezed tighter.

Oh, Lily.

It was Vanir that finally ended the moment. "Someone is approaching," he said softly, laying a hand on Shay's shoulder. Shay broke the embrace, reaching out for Lily's hand.

The blonde woman placed her own in it, and together they walked silently to where the dragons waited. Shruikan stretched out his neck.

We fly, the ancient dragon bid.

Lily embraced Shay one more time, before clambering onto Shruikan. She clung tightly to his scales.

As one, the three beings lifted off into the sky. Shay watched until she could see them no longer.

Vanir approached her, silent. He settled into a position at her side. Hesitantly, slowly, he slipped an arm around her shoulders.

So they stood, watching the empty sky.