Prologue
"Look up."
She tore her eyes away from the grainy sand beneath her where she was curled up.
She didn't want to look. She thought she wasn't deserving of what the act would mean.
If she were to look upon the stars that glistened above her, dancing in the moonlight, she would have been reminded that some of those stars were the ones she failed.
She heard the crunching of the sand before an arm wrapped around her shoulders, "There is still time, Maelis," the soft spoken voice found a way to sooth her even after all the hell she had been through. That voice that was now careful and deliberate. The voice that had broken her completely and thoroughly when it alerted her that he was part of the echoing screams.
She shook her head. She didn't know if it was to clear her head or because she knew the time that was left was borrowed. Perhaps that was the problem. If there were no more moments left, maybe it would allow her to accept defeat.
But she had to fight.
She lifted her head and looked at a constellation that was newly forming, "Then let's make the most of it, Prince." The words fell from her lips delicately, and she took a moment to look at the most recent star. The brightest.
Maelis Arbeoth took the dagger strapped to her thigh, stood up, and went to find the person responsible for the biggest loss of her life.