Page 22 of The First Scar
But the crowd didn't have a truth-sense. They just had fear. A small boy near the fountain met my eyes. Recognition dawned—then twisted into revulsion.
"Monster," he hissed.
Something fractured behind my ribs. Not my Mark. Just me.
Serenya grabbed my face and pulled it toward hers, eyes steady and unblinking—the priestess in her rising through the panic.
"The world doesn't see a savior, Amaria. They see a scapegoat. That doesnotmean you let them make you one. Understand?"
I blinked back tears and tried to pull my face away. She didn’t let me. “Say you understand, Amaria, or we aren’t surviving this.”
I stared into her eyes for just a moment, fear and pain transmuting into resolve under her steady gaze. I nodded. “I understand.”
She let me go and nodded to herself, apparently appeased.
Then the ground shuddered. Cobblestones lifted, spun, dropped. Pain lanced through my spine and blood trickled from my nose. The Veil was bleeding. And so was I.
And somewhere behind us, in the dark of the tunnels, a promise echoed.I will find you.But the Crownforged would have to get in line—by nightfall, the whole realm would be hunting me.
"Move," Serenya breathed.
A shadow detached from the temple wall behind us—the same crumbling stone where the vendors had hung their awnings that morning. Grey cloak, eyes like flint—the rebel from the plaza. He stood, inches away, but his eyes were fixed on the projections of the King.
"The Rhain family," he said, low and quick. "They're safe. One of our safe houses outside the inner quarter."
Relief spread through my limbs. A knot I hadn't realized I'd been carrying since I'd seen the boy's wild eyes, the father sawing at his ropes. They'd made it. Because of the smoke bombs. Because ofhim.
The rebel's gaze held mine firm. Knowing. He'd just proven his people could do what I'd failed to do alone, and from the look on his face, he knew it. He passed me a scroll, the Uncrowned seal warm against my palm.
“Coordinates for contact.”
I shoved the scroll back without looking at it.
His expression didn't flicker. He'd expected that.
"Amaria—" Serenya started.
"No."
Her mouth thinned, but she didn't argue. She knew the rule. We'd survived this long by trusting no one but each other, and I wasn't about to change that because some rebel threw a few smoke bombs and got lucky once.
The rebel dipped his chin—not a bow, not submission. Acknowledgment.Your choice. For now.
I left the scroll in the dirt and kept moving.
Chapter 7
UNKNOWN
Sleep state terminated.
Abrupt.
Consciousness returned. No external threat detected.
Pain registered at the sternum.
Origin: Soulmark.
