Ash gave me a mocking bow. “After you, Princess.”

An image of Belladonna demanding him to pleasure her rose up in my mind. “Don’t call me that. Not ever.”

He raised his eyebrows at me as we stepped into the glittering entranceway. “But, aren’t you a princess? Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to prove, that you aren’t just a bastard?”

I shook my head, hair swirling in the breeze, a cherry blossom catching in the ends, “No, I’m an Ender now.”

I thought he’d smile, but he just nodded. “Ender Larkspur, after you.”

We moved in tandem, side by side, falling into step together. We didn’t get very far when a pair of fire elementals barred our way. They wore heavy black masks that went with their black Ender leathers. I thought maybe I saw a glimpse of red curls peeking out of one helmet, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Maggie? Is that you?”

“Hello, Lark.”

I let out a relieved breath. Maggie would help us. She knew we weren’t here for trouble. But then beside me, Ash tensed even more, body tight with anticipation. The two Enders loosely held four-foot long, blunt ended clubs that looked to be made of the same stone as the doorway.

“We need the healers to come with us. The lung burrowers have gone rampant. Or we can speak with them and they can send the cleansing fire,” Ash said, shifting his weight so he was . . . in a fighting stance? Oh, this was not good. I mimicked him, hoping I was wrong. We weren’t really going to fight, were we? Surely the Salamanders wouldn’t try to hurt us.

Elementals stuck together, that’s what I’d always been taught. They worked with one another, unlike the humans who were always starting wars and wiping each other out. We were different, above that kind of pettiness. We were better than the humans.

I was taught wrong.

Chapter 15

The two fire elementals didn’t waste time. They attacked, forcing us back a few steps. They spun their long clubs, almost like you would whirl a spear, the black material turning into a blur. “Maggie, don’t do this!” I yelled, yanking my spear out and around, barely blocking the blow from her partner.

“You must leave. It isn’t our decision, but we have to uphold it.”

“This isn’t asking nicely,” Ash spoke from my other side.

Not much comfort, but I wouldn’t stop trying. “Please, my father is sick, dying! You have to help. Your healers are our only hope.”

I was paying too much attention to Maggie and not enough to the Ender I faced. A blow to my right knee sent me to the ground, the twist of bones and tendons tore under the blunt club like peeling bark from a tree. I bit my tongue as I went down, fighting the black spots that scattered across my vision.

Ash stepped in front of me, his wicked sword slashing through the air, cutting the club in half as it swept toward my head. I closed my eyes and ducked. The clash of metal on solid rock was a screech that dug into my ears.

Stop it, just stop it. I wanted nothing more than help for my father, for all those who didn’t deserve to die. Like Granite and Mal, Blossom, and even my siblings. Most especially Raven and Briar, they weren’t like the others. Just stop this madness, there are too many lives at stake.

Silence, sweet and heady in its quiet breaths, met my ears, and I lifted my head slowly. Ash stood in front of me, protecting me. Blood dripped from his left arm where a shard of the club had slashed through him and partially embedded in his muscle.

“What happened?” I tugged at Ash’s leg. He spared me a glance.

“I don’t know. They just . . . stopped.”

Using the wall, I pulled myself to my feet and hobbled forward to touch Maggie’s arm, despite Ash hissing at me. I ignored him. “Maggie?” I gently pulled her helmet off. Her strange orange eyes stared past me, seeing nothing.

“We stopped,” she whispered, and I stumbled back, into Ash who caught me before I could fall to the ground for the second time.

Her words, they had nothing to do with me. Did they? I swallowed hard. “Well, we can go in now, I guess.”

Ash looked at me and I stared back. “What?”

“We need to go in to speak to the healers. Right? No one will know we’re here for a bit.”

He pulled the shard of rock from his arm, dropping it to the floor. “Maggie and Match aren’t the only Enders here, Lark. There are more, and they will hunt us down for coming in aggressively.”

I couldn’t read him, couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“We have to help them. My father could die. And while you might like the idea of Cassava as a queen, I do not. So come with me, or give me the armband and I’ll go myself to find the healers.” I limped forward, using the wall as a support. Each step sent a spasm of fire down my right leg. This was going to be a long haul to heal.

Ash jogged to my side and slid an arm around my waist, lifting me a little and taking the pressure off my knee. “Here, if you insist on going, at least let me help you.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“You’re like your mother, I think.” He paused, and we slowed. “I heard she exchanged memories with people when she used the armbands with others. Which means you saw my memory of the day your mother died, didn’t you?” There was a raw edge to his voice, a mixture of grief and pain. I knew that combination well.

“Yes. I didn’t want to say anything. It wasn’t my place to see it.”