My father may even be out there. I have not seen him since the day I left to find Nathaniel.
Mother Aurelia hands me over to the axman, who pushes me to my knees and plants my head on the chopping black. He moves my braids out of the way, my bare neck exposed to the biting winter that still pervades Malva. I prefer this to the blooming plum orchard Oliver brought about, because at least this is real.
“Do you have any final words?” the axman asks.
I close my eyes, unwilling to leave these people with any amount of hope, for who knows if hope ever existed in the first place. I must though. It is what Mother Aurelia wished of me.
“My name is Amelia Gareth. I died at the age of eighteen, on this cold winter day. I wish for you to never forget my name. I wish for you to never forget my dreams. This world will change.”
A sob cuts through the silence. It is Mother Aurelia. Her stoic composure has cracked, and I have been blessed with this human side of her on the day of my death. It is a gift, one I will never forget.
“All right, does anyone else have any final words?”
I expect to hear Nathaniel’s voice. Thank Deus I don’t.
“All right then.” He raises the ax. “Three…”
My life should fly out on a film reel. It stays locked in the prison of my mind.
“Two…”
It is because death is all there is for me.
“One…”
Amelia Gareth will die today. But she is a star. She will scatter. And she will be reborn. A new star.
“Ready…”
I am--
Epilogue
I am Dervla Adair. The name means ‘daughter of bile’ in some forgotten language. A new name for a reborn girl.
It has been five years since my death. Death changes those who are unfortunate enough to remember how they died. Annarelius, or Anna as I call her, told me it took a year for me to change because I was not burnt. For some reason, she protected my body during the change, and when I came to, I discovered Anna and I were hiding deep in the woods. I suppose she wanted to prevent further maiming of my body so that I did not appear like a rag doll when I changed.
Because I was beheaded, I bear a thick scar around my neck from where the axe sliced.
“It could have been worse,” Anna told me. “They wanted to cremate your body, but I saved it. I know you want to change things, and so do I. We should try to change this world together.”
And so, here we are, five years later, back in Malva, where everything started. The city is slowly being rebuilt, but people’s lives are still fractured, and their patchwork hearts match the patchwork layout of the city. I can’t even tell the backstreets from the main road anymore.
Anna steps out beside me. Since she has already infused herself with human blood, her green eyes stand out wildly against the gray sadness of Malva. “Do you think we will have to destroy this place again?”
I dislodge a cobblestone with my steel-toed boot. “We will have to do whatever we can to free ourselves from this pain, to free all Shadowmen from their suffering.” I stop toying with the stone. “This isn’t just about us, Anna. Even if we have to level this entire city, we’re saving everyone in the end, especially from themselves and their bitter hatred.”
Anna sighs. “I know, but--”
“But nothing.” I have hardened over the years. “I wanted to die so I could have the power to do something, and now that I do, I intend to make well on that promise. Sacrifices will happen, Anna. You should understand that more than anyone.”
Anna gulps. “I do.”
“Then we have to strip the city bare to find this girl and kill her. Theosodore said it is this girl that will break this endless cycle of suffering.”
“But why someone so innocent, so young?”
“It is Deus who put the fate on this girl. She is Deus’s daughter, so Theosodore says.”
Anna frowns and casts her eyes downward. “It’s not fair that everything has led up to this, that we were given such special powers to complete our Exaltations, and then sent on a goose chase to find a child who never asked for any of this.”
I give her a sad smile. “She is your Exaltation, Anna. You will be freeing us. She will be a martyr, remembered.” I pause, then let out a sigh. “None of us asked for any of this.”
“I know, and you’ve already freed yourself.”
“I did.” My Exaltation was simple: kill my father. When Shadowmen change, we feel the Exaltations in our blood. I’m not sure why Deus would do this to me, but I fulfilled it nonetheless. It was that Exaltation that hardened me, made me so single-minded that whatever I must do to achieve a goal becomes top priority.
I no longer cry. I can no longer cry. But I have no more urges to cry.
I begin walking down the main road that reminds me of a collage. “Are you ready, Anna?”
She nods. “Where should we light the first fire?”
“Let’s start with Cathedral Reims.” I close my eyes. “If we have to flush out every last person in Malva to find her, then so be it.”
We light the first fire. The smoke climbs high to the stars. Those stars have born witness to the thousands of years of human tragedy and suffering. When all is said and done, we will die into dust that the stars will take back into themselves. Or we will die to be used once again by Deus.
However we die, Anna and I will make certain we all die free.
###
About the Author
Amber has been writing seriously since she was fourteen, the age she began the sequel to When Stars Die. She began When Stars Die at fifteen and shelved it for five years before finally deciding it needed to be brought out and made the first book in The Stars Trilogy.
She has had several short stories published, including a piece in The Oddville Press and two installation pieces in Sorean: A Gothic Magazine. She was a slush pile reader for The Oddville Press, Executive Editor for Sorean, editorial and communications intern for YALITCHAT, and is currently founder and fiction editor of The Corner Club Press. She also does freelance editing.
When not engaged in literary endeavors, she attends Augusta State University for a BA in English Middle Education, dances ballet, reads, plays video games, and works as a marketing trainee.
Learn more about Amber and her books at:
AmberSkyeForbes.com
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