The woman who climbed out of Seraphine's grave remembered being murdered.
She remembered the blade entering beneath her ribs.
She remembered Queen Elara crying.
She remembered King Aldren ordering the chamber sealed.
And most clearly of all, she remembered Seraphine Vale standing over her body and whispering:
"Forgive me, sister."
The resurrected woman looked down at the black Sovereign Crest burning over her heart.
Nine years underground had left her body impossibly untouched.
Around the open grave, the workers backed away.
One made the mistake of running.
The woman raised her hand.
"Stop."
He froze.
Not voluntarily.
His entire body locked in place.
She stared at her fingers.
"So it survived."
The false monk who had visited High Keep descended into the crypt.
He removed his hood.
Beneath it was the scarred commander of the Ashen Brotherhood.
The same man who had knelt before Toby.
"My lady."
The woman smiled.
"You recognize me?"
"We were taught to."
"Then tell me."
She stepped from the grave.
"How long?"
"Nine years."
For the first time, her composure cracked.
"Nine..."
She touched her face.
"And Seraphine?"
"Alive."
The woman's expression became unreadable.
"Of course she is."
"She is beneath Saint Orlan's."
The woman turned.
"Take me to her."
The commander hesitated.
"My lady, the twins—"
She looked at him.
He immediately lowered his head.
"Take me to my sister."
---
At High Keep, Gareth read Seraphine's warning for the fourth time.
The woman buried under my name will wake.
He looked at Mira.
"Who is in that grave?"
"I don't know."
"You lived at Saint Orlan's."
"Below it."
"For how long?"
"As long as I remember."
"And you never saw the grave?"
"No."
Cael leaned against the table.
"Seraphine told you not to let us return there."
"Yes."
"Which means that's exactly where we need to go."
Gareth stared at him.
"Do you deliberately choose the most dangerous interpretation of every instruction?"
"Usually."
Toby took the letter.
"He's right."
Gareth sighed.
"Wonderful. Two of you."
Mira looked worried.
"Seraphine was afraid of that grave."
"Did she say why?" Toby asked.
"Only once."
Mira closed her eyes, remembering.
"She said, 'Some mistakes should stay buried.'"
Cael looked toward Gareth.
"That's practically an invitation."
Before Gareth could answer, the infirmary door opened.
Edric entered.
His face was pale.
"King Aldren is asking for all of you."
---
Aldren was dying.
Everyone knew it now.
The black veins left by Malachar had reached his throat.
No physician understood how to stop them.
Edric sat beside his father.
When Gareth entered with Toby, Cael, Mira, Ysara, and Veyron, Aldren motioned toward the door.
"Close it."
Gareth did.
Aldren looked at Mira.
"The Fourth Flame."
Mira stiffened.
"You know what I am?"
"I know what they wanted you to become."
"Who?"
"Malachar."
Toby frowned.
"She was created in the laboratory."
"Yes."
"From whose blood?"
Aldren looked at Gareth.
"Seraphine's."
Silence.
Mira's face emptied.
"What?"
Aldren continued.
"After the twins were born, Malachar obtained Seraphine's blood."
"How?" Gareth demanded.
"During her imprisonment."
Mira backed away.
"No."
Toby reached toward her.
She moved away from him too.
"Don't."
Aldren spoke gently.
"Mira, you were not born naturally."
Cael's expression darkened.
"Careful."
"I am telling her the truth."
"Then tell all of it."
Aldren closed his eyes.
"You were the only surviving child from Project Ember."
Mira whispered, "Child?"
"Yes."
"They made me?"
"Yes."
Her voice cracked.
"Who is my father?"
Aldren said nothing.
That silence terrified Gareth.
"Who?"
Aldren looked at him.
"You."
The room stopped.
Gareth stared.
"No."
Mira looked between them.
"What?"
"They used stored blood taken from Gareth during his years in the Sovereign Guard."
Gareth's face turned white.
"Without my knowledge."
"Yes."
Cael slowly looked at Mira.
Then Toby.
Then Gareth.
"This family keeps getting worse."
Toby barely heard him.
Mira was his sister.
Not by friendship.
By blood.
Mira stared at Gareth.
"You're my father?"
"Biologically..."
Gareth struggled with the word.
"Apparently."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"But you didn't know."
"No."
"You didn't abandon me."
"No."
"Seraphine knew?"
Aldren nodded.
"She discovered the laboratory and rescued you."
Mira covered her mouth.
All her life, she had believed Seraphine was simply her protector.
Now the truth was stranger.
Seraphine had saved a child created from her own blood and Gareth's.
A daughter they had never chosen to conceive.
Toby approached Mira carefully.
"You're my sister."
She looked at him.
Toby smiled faintly.
"You were already family."
That broke her.
Mira hugged him.
Toby held her.
Cael watched awkwardly.
Then Mira looked at him.
"Don't."
Cael frowned.
"Don't what?"
"Stand there pretending you don't care."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
She pulled him into the embrace.
Cael looked horrified.
"This family has entirely too much hugging."
Gareth almost laughed.
Almost.
Then Aldren said:
"Mira wasn't the only success."
The siblings separated.
Cael stared at him.
"What?"
Aldren's breathing worsened.
"Project Ember produced two viable subjects."
Gareth's dread returned.
"Where is the other?"
"Saint Orlan's."
Toby understood.
"The grave."
Aldren nodded.
"The woman buried as Seraphine."
"Who is she?"
Aldren looked toward Gareth.
"Another daughter."
Silence.
Gareth closed his eyes.
Cael muttered, "At this rate we should start making a list."
Mira looked sick.
"My sister?"
"Older than you."
"How much older?"
"Nine years."
"She was created before the twins?"
"No."
Aldren shook his head.
"She wasn't created."
Gareth frowned.
"Then how is she my daughter?"
Aldren looked at him.
"Because she was born naturally."
The room went silent again.
Gareth knew before Aldren said the name.
"No."
"Seraphine had a daughter before Toby and Cael."
"No."
"She never told you."
Gareth stepped backward.
"When?"
"Fourteen years ago."
"But Seraphine and I—"
"Yes."
Aldren looked at him with pity.
"She was yours."
Gareth's face hardened.
"Where is she?"
"Her name was Lyra."
Toby immediately recognized it.
"Like Azrath's daughter."
"Seraphine chose the name deliberately."
"What happened to her?"
Aldren looked away.
"Queen Elara discovered the child."
Edric closed his eyes.
Toby stared at him.
"You knew."
Edric whispered, "Later."
"What did Elara do?"
Aldren answered.
"She took Lyra."
Gareth's hands curled into fists.
"Where?"
"Into the royal program."
"What program?"
"The experiments existed before Malachar controlled me."
Silence.
Edric stared at his father.
"What?"
Aldren's shame deepened.
"Our family had been studying Vaelor blood for generations."
Gareth's voice became dangerous.
"You experimented on my daughter."
"I didn't know she was yours."
"Would that have made it acceptable?"
Aldren said nothing.
Gareth moved toward him.
Edric stepped between them.
"Gareth."
"Move."
"He's dying."
"Then he can die after answering."
Aldren raised one hand.
"Let him."
Edric reluctantly moved.
Gareth leaned over the king.
"What did you do to Lyra?"
"We tried to awaken her mark."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"It was black."
Toby remembered the woman in the grave.
The complete black Sovereign Crest.
"What does black mean?"
Aldren whispered:
"She could command Shades."
Silence.
Mira touched the incomplete mark over her heart.
"And mine?"
"You were created as a countermeasure."
"To Lyra?"
"Yes."
"The Fourth Flame."
"Yes."
Mira's face filled with horror.
"I was made to kill my sister."
Aldren closed his eyes.
"Yes."
---
Gareth left the infirmary before rage made him do something irreversible.
Toby followed.
Then Cael.
They found him alone on the western battlement.
Gareth stared toward the distant mountains.
"Fourteen years."
Toby stood beside him.
"You didn't know."
"That doesn't matter."
"It matters."
"I should have known."
"How?"
Gareth had no answer.
Cael leaned against the wall.
"Apparently everyone spent decades making sure you didn't."
Gareth looked at him.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No."
Cael looked toward the horizon.
"But blaming yourself is convenient because it gives you someone you can punish."
Gareth stared.
Cael shrugged.
"I have experience."
Toby smiled slightly.
Gareth put one hand on each son's shoulder.
"No more hidden siblings."
Cael laughed.
"You should never say things like that in this family."
A bell rang from the gate.
A rider.
Then another.
Scouts.
One shouted from below.
"Sir Gareth!"
"What?"
"Movement from Saint Orlan's!"
"How many?"
"At least forty!"
"Ashen Brotherhood?"
"Yes!"
Gareth's expression hardened.
"Prepare horses."
Toby stepped forward.
"We're coming."
"No."
"Father."
"No."
Cael smiled.
"That word is going to become extremely useful."
Gareth glared at him.
Then surrendered.
"Stay close."
---
They reached Saint Orlan's near sunset.
The monastery ruins stood silent.
No Ashen soldiers.
No workers.
No false monk.
Only the open crypt.
Gareth descended first.
Toby, Cael, Mira, Veyron, and Ysara followed.
The grave was empty.
On its stone lid someone had written in fresh blood:
SISTER FOR SISTER.
Mira stared.
"What does that mean?"
A scream echoed below.
They ran.
A hidden staircase led beneath the crypt.
Down.
Deeper.
Into the old laboratory.
Rows of rusted cages filled the underground chamber.
Small cages.
Child-sized.
Cael stopped.
His face drained.
"I remember this place."
Toby looked at him.
"You were here?"
"Yes."
One cage still had scratches on the wall.
Cael approached.
Numbers.
Hundreds of them.
Days counted by a child.
Toby touched his shoulder.
Cael did not pull away.
Then Gareth heard voices.
He motioned for silence.
They followed a corridor.
At the end stood a vast laboratory.
The scarred commander of the Ashen Brotherhood waited beside an iron table.
And chained to that table—
Seraphine.
The real Seraphine.
Gareth stopped breathing.
She looked toward him.
"Gareth."
This time there was no door.
No illusion.
No Shade.
He crossed the room.
The Ashen commander raised his sword.
Gareth struck him so hard the man fell unconscious before he could swing.
Gareth reached Seraphine.
"Are you real?"
Despite everything, she laughed weakly.
"Still romantic."
He touched her face.
Warm.
Human.
Tears filled his eyes.
"Seraphine."
"I'm sorry."
"For which part?"
"Most of it."
He broke the first chain.
Toby and Cael approached slowly.
Seraphine saw them.
Her face collapsed.
"My boys."
Toby stopped several feet away.
Cael stopped farther.
Seraphine understood.
She did not reach for them.
"You don't owe me anything."
Cael's jaw tightened.
"You came back for me."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you find me?"
"I tried."
"How long?"
"Ten years."
Cael's eyes filled.
Seraphine whispered:
"I'm sorry I wasn't good enough."
Cael looked away.
Toby asked the question.
"Lyra."
Seraphine went still.
"You know."
"She's alive."
Fear entered Seraphine's face.
"No."
"She woke."
"Then we have to leave."
Gareth broke another chain.
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't want the twins."
Mira stepped forward.
"She wants me."
Seraphine saw her.
"Mira."
"Am I your daughter?"
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"Not in the way you deserved."
"But genetically?"
"Yes."
"And Gareth?"
"Yes."
Mira absorbed it.
Then:
"Was I made to kill Lyra?"
Seraphine opened her eyes.
"That was their plan."
"Yours?"
"Never."
A voice came from the doorway.
"But you still replaced me with her."
Everyone turned.
The resurrected woman stood there.
Lyra.
She wore black robes taken from the Ashen Brotherhood.
Over her heart burned the black Sovereign Crest.
Gareth stared at his firstborn daughter.
She looked like Seraphine.
But her eyes—
His eyes.
Lyra looked at him.
"Father."
Gareth lowered his weapon.
"Lyra."
She smiled sadly.
"I wondered whether you would recognize me."
"I didn't know."
"Everyone says that."
Cael flinched at the familiar words.
Lyra noticed him.
"Hello, little brother."
Then Toby.
"And you."
Her gaze finally settled on Mira.
The sadness disappeared.
"There you are."
Mira stepped forward.
"I don't want to fight you."
Lyra laughed.
"Of course you don't."
"We're sisters."
"No."
The black mark brightened.
"You are my replacement."
Shadows began emerging from the walls.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Every remaining Shade that had escaped the Veil gathered around Lyra.
Toby raised his crestless arm.
Nothing happened.
Azrath's mark was gone.
Cael tried.
Nothing.
Lyra smiled.
"Azrath took your flames when he died."
Mira touched the incomplete mark over her heart.
It began glowing gold.
Lyra's black crest answered.
"Only two flames remain now," Lyra said.
"Mine."
She pointed at Mira.
"And yours."
Seraphine struggled against her remaining chains.
"Lyra, listen to me."
"No."
"I never abandoned you."
"You chose them."
"I tried to save all of you."
"You buried me!"
Seraphine's face broke.
"To keep you alive."
Lyra froze.
"What?"
"The grave wasn't a prison."
Seraphine pulled against the chains.
"It was the only place Malachar couldn't reach your mind."
Lyra's certainty flickered.
"No."
"You died during the experiments."
"Stop."
"I used Vaelor blood to suspend your body."
"STOP."
"I promised I would wake you when the Black King was gone."
Lyra stared at her.
"Then why didn't you?"
Seraphine whispered:
"Because someone opened your grave first."
Silence.
Lyra looked toward the unconscious Ashen commander.
Then the shadows around her.
For the first time, fear entered her eyes.
"If you didn't wake me..."
A Shade behind her smiled.
Not with a human face.
With Malachar's.
Lyra turned.
Too late.
Black smoke plunged into her back.
She screamed.
Gareth ran toward her.
"LYRA!"
The black Sovereign Crest spread across her body.
Mira's golden mark exploded with light.
Seraphine screamed:
"MIRA, DON'T LET HIM TAKE HER!"
Mira stared at the sister she had been created to kill.
Lyra's eyes turned black.
Then, for one desperate second, human again.
"Please..."
Mira stepped forward.
Lyra reached toward her.
"Sister..."
Their fingertips touched.
Both marks erupted.
And somewhere beyond the sealed Veil, the Black King began laughing again.