Page 9 of Elemental Becoming

I feel my pulse steady. And gods, what he can do to me is terrifying, but it is also something else. Something new. Something safe.

As we pass under a great stone arch, as the roar of the crowd still echoes around us, Thane leans in, just slightly, just enough that no one but me can hear.

“You belong here.” A beat. “Not because of prophecy. Because you stayed.”

My breath comes easier as a new feeling begins to stir in my gut—something other than fear.

Possibility.

HOMECOMING

TWO

The thing about deception is that you rarely see it until it has already wrapped around you. Its nature is to mislead—to conceal, distort, to lie. In the hands of the skilled, it becomes an art form: a patient weaving of half-truths and shadows until the victim is caught in a web they unknowingly helped spin. By the time they sense the trap, their sight is clouded, their voice silenced, and they are left utterly destroyed.

—VALEN’S JOURNAL

AMARA

We continue our parade to the center of the city. The steps of the Ember Throne feel impossibly long, stretching high into the towering structure before us. The banners of the Fire Clan and the Spiritborn snap in the wind, and the weight of the city presses around us, watching, waiting.

We dismount our horses at the foot of the stairs. I watch them being led away by stable hands, then glance up.

I’ve faced warriors on the training field, soldiers twice my size, and Kethraki. My hand automatically presses to the spot on my side where those damned winged creatures clawed at me when I was flying with Calryx.

And yet, somehow, I feel more nervous now, as we approach the steps of the Ember Throne.

Standing there, watching us with sharp gray eyes that are far too familiar—is Thane’s sister, Rowena.

She is smaller than I expected. Slight build, her form compact, efficient, built for speed rather than brute strength. Her dark hair, the same shade as Thane’s, is pulled into a tight braid woven into a crown on top of her head. A few strands have come free from the wind, framing a face that is both sharp and expressive.

And those eyes. Gods, those gray eyes. Thane’s eyes. It’s like looking at a version of him that doesn’t carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

There is something undeniably fierce in the way she carries herself, something calculating, quick, sure. And when she turns her gaze on me, my stomach tightens.

Beside her, stands a woman, taller, broader, more imposing: Sera, Rowena’s wife. Where Rowena appears quick and precise, Sera looks all power and discipline, a warrior through andthrough. Sera stands like a blade sheathed in silk. Her spine is straight, shoulders squared with a practiced ease, like her body remembers the weight of armor even when she isn’t wearing it.

Her eyes, blue as the deepest parts of the ocean, scan me with a quiet assessment. She wears simple, unadorned leathers, her sword secured on her back rather than her hip—a sign of confidence in her skill.

They’re opposites in nearly every way. But when Rowena leans into her space, and Sera’s fingers brush her elbow, automatic and unthinking, I see they have the kind of partnership that is built over years.

The cheering fades behind us, replaced by a smattering of conversations as the crowd begins to disperse. But I still feel the weight of every eye watching, and for a moment, I miss the simplicity of dust and ash and survival.

“You made it,” she says to Thane, arms crossed, watching him like she’s studying a puzzle that doesn’t quite make sense.

Thane meets her gaze, unreadable. “Of course we did.”

Her eyes flicker over him. And gods, she sees it. The change. The way his shoulders are no longer rigid with tension. The way he isn’t brooding, isn’t carrying himself like a man waiting for the next battle to break him.

Her gaze snaps to me. And then, she grins but not just a grin. A full, beaming smile.

“You’re Amara!”

Before I can respond, she grabs my hands like we’re old friends.

“I’ve been waiting to meet you. I had to meet the woman who managed to make my brother tolerable.”

A bark of laughter escapes me before I can stop it. Thane mutters something under his breath, but Rowena is already grinning at me like this is the best thing that’s happened all week.