by Katie Cross
Isadora closed her eyes, enjoying the spray of the salty air. All of the staff except Fiona and Lorenzo had been dismissed, leaving an empty chasm in their wake. Only two East Guards patrolled the perimeter here and there; Carcere lay empty. Blocked doors had been thrown open, spilling light into the dank shadows. What Defenders still lived had escaped. No sign of them had been seen since Cecelia’s death.
“It’s beautiful, no?”
Isadora spun around to see Fiona standing there. Isadora managed a weak smile and nodded.
“Yes. Beautiful. I believe I’m going to miss the ocean.”
Fiona’s nose wrinkled. “You have your strange forest at home, I hear.”
Isadora’s heart thrilled. “Yes. I do. My forest. My family.” Her mind ran to memories of Sanna. The canopy. Mam. The smell of Daid’s pipe. Although Anguis was gone, her family was not. What would Daid have to say about her description of the ocean? Could she bottle it up and take it back to them? No. Even if she could, there was no way to appreciate the vast expanse of the sea, the magnanimity of it, without witnessing it themselves.
But Lucey would be there. She’d understand.
“Ernesto asked me to bring this letter to you from your friend Maximillion. He is meeting with Dante, our High Priest, today, to report to him what happened.”
Isadora’s stomach caught. Maximillion meeting with Dante for any reasons created political tension for the Central Network, but considering he fought East Guards and the Ambassador died while Maximillion was there meant even uglier implications. Would the East declare war, just when things had possibly turned toward peace? She doubted Charles went with him. Her mind trailed to their kiss, the horror in his gaze after she’d used her powers to battle Cecelia. The burning tingle of her lips sank all the way into her belly.
Had she imagined the passion behind his kiss? The fear in his eyes once she returned? Now he would know precisely how much power she had.
“Thank you,” Isadora said. Her pained heart took her by surprise.
Fiona studied her. “You seem better,” she said.
“I feel better, thanks to your help.”
Two days had passed while Isadora remained in her stupor. Maximillion had assisted Lucey back to Letum Wood. The Advocacy had already sent the imprisoned Watchers to various safe houses in the Central Network. Efforts to track down their family members were underway, inhibited by a new edict from the Eastern Network High Priest that prevented travel across the borders.
It seems that isolation can be our only hope, the announcement to the Central Network had said. Leave us alone, and we shall do the same for you.
“Take your time here,” Fiona said. “We are in no hurry for you to leave.”
“Will you stay?”
Fiona gazed over the ocean. “Yes. La Torra is in me. Solo coraggioso.”
Isadora’s lips twitched in amusement. The sign over the servants’ hall.
“Only the courageous,” Isadora whispered.
Fiona disappeared down the stairwell with a wry, parting smile. Isadora cast one last look at the ocean. She would miss its wild vastness.
Not the laundry.
Overhead, the sky remained empty. The famed aquilas had been Advocacy members after all, which explained how Maximillion had been able to transport in and out—he’d simply transformed into the bird. That sort of magic, expected by Defenders, went unaccounted for. Isadora peered at the empty sky, wondering how many times the aquila had been Maximillion, checking in. No wonder he knew so much.
A splash of white in the crook of her arm caught her eye. Sanna’s letters. She’d nearly forgotten that Maximillion had given them to her. A thrill zipped through her, all the way to her toes.
Home.
With no one chasing her away from La Torra, she sank onto the parapet and removed the twine from around the bundle. Her lips twitched in a smile as she shuffled through the envelopes. Sanna’s handwriting had always been horrid. How she missed them!
Isadora’s brow furrowed. The handwriting became more and more hasty until it was nearly illegible. She looked back over the pile. Considering how much time had passed, there weren’t as many letters as she’d expected.
The pit in her stomach grew.
She tore through the first one, skimmed it, and felt a growing horror. “No!” she cried.
With fear, she tore into the next. Tears filled her eyes. Her hands trembled. She read each letter once, twice, then crumpled them in her hands and transported away with a soft cry.
Acknowledgments
Give me an intense fantasy world, multiple conflict strains, a massive word count goal, and a fast deadline, and I’ll gladly tackle that without fear. But put a blank acknowledgments page in front of me, and suddenly, my brain is empty.
Because so many people assist in the making of a great book.
First off, to my amazing support team that deal with a lot of late night calls and frustrations when the magic just won’t come together! Stephan, Kelsey, Brandy, Ta-rah. You support a girl like rockstahs. Thanks. My production team: Jenny, Kella. Stephanie / Catherine, Chris, Kristen, and all the people in between—thank you SO much for all that you do. Your books are beautiful, and I couldn’t do what I do without you.
To my launch team, without whom I would never be able to enjoy launching a new book so much, and who set me up for ultimate success. Thank you for caring, for connecting, and for helping. I wish I could name all of you individually. You all have places in my heart!
For my fans, who read, email, and are the worlds best people ever—thanks. Connecting with you is the reason I write YA Fantasy.
Husband, Little Man, and Warrior Princess—love yer freaking guts. Thanks for being my inspiration. To those I may have missed: I adore you all, and I totally blame baby brain.
The Dragonmaster Trilogy
Flame
Flight
Freedom
And when you’re done reading The Dragonmaster Trilogy, there’s more...
• THE NETWORK SERIES •
Mildred’s Resistance (prequel)
Miss Mabel’s School for Girls
(winner of IAN 2015 Outstanding Fantasy)
The Isadora Interviews (novella)
Antebellum Awakening
The High Priest’s Daughter
War of the Networks
The Network Series Complete Collection
(includes all the above books in one edition)
Short Stories from Miss Mabel’s
Short Stories from the Network Series
About Katie
I write fantasy books so you can seize the light. Hold magic in your fingertips. Command dragons. Throw yourself at the mercy of an attractive stranger. You’ll forget the shadows of real life to live your wildest adventure.
And remember that you are the hero of your own story.