Free Ashes of the Stars by Elizabeth Van Zandt Page A

silent as Finn told his story, her story, and even when he was finished I didn’t know what to say. I had known that she would break under the pressure, that she would need somewhere to go, but I hadn’t expected it would come like this. After silence for too long, Finn looked over his shoulder and asked, “How soon can you be packed up?”
    “Five minutes,” I answered. “Start walking if you want, I’ll catch up.”
    “Yes, thank you,” He nodded once. He didn’t take her back out of the sleeping bag. He just picked her up in his arms like a doll and made his escape through the door. I knew what he was afraid of, it was the same thing I had been when I’d made my escape from the Legion. I wanted to put as much distance between myself and the city as possible in hopes that they wouldn’t go so far to find me.
    I quickly packed up my belongings and shoveled heavy snow over the makeshift fire pit. Once I had my gear safely on my back, I took off running to try to catch up. I had been tired, and if Finn hadn’t shown up, I probably would’ve drifted to sleep soon. As it was, now I was wide awake. I jogged for longer than five minutes, almost ten, before I finally caught up to him. He was walking briskly, taking massive strides.
    “How quickly can we be there without an entire Legionnaire team following and needing to stop for lunch and dinner and sleep?” Finn asked me, glancing down worriedly at Aili’s hidden form.
    “Four days,” I answered. “Out of the cold in two if we only stop when absolutely necessary.”
    Finn nodded his consent and we kept moving on silently. I had a million questions running through my head but I didn’t want to disturb Finn. He seemed to be trapped in a faraway place, concentrating. He was probably berating himself for not making her life easier, for letting things get this far with her. I knew I would be and I was.
    “Do you have any medicine to keep her asleep?” I finally asked. It would be difficult to get her to camp and to the medics’ attention if she was fighting us.
    “Yes. I’m supposed to give her a shot every morning around sunrise,” Finn answered.
    “I’ll do what I can to help,” I said in an attempt to comfort him. Comfort wasn’t my strong suit but Finn seemed to appreciate it regardless.
    “Is he really her brother? Have you really been looking for her for a decade?” Finn asked me.
    “Yes,” I said, staring straight ahead.
    “I thought so,” Finn nodded once. He immediately accepted the truth, why couldn’t she?
    We walked on in silence after that, both of us lost in thoughts of our life spent centered around Aili.
     
    We stopped every morning to give Aili her shot and we stopped for a few hours each day to eat without tasting the food and, even less often to sleep. Aili didn’t stir, she slept on soundlessly despite the near constant motion. It was unnerving to see. I concentrated on getting her back to camp and tried to ignore thoughts of Kieran. He would hate me for this just the same. His sister was destroyed now, suffering a fate far worse than death. She was locked inside of her head, haunted by ghosts who would never let her feel peace.
    I helped Finn carry her. She was as tiny as she looked and she weighed next to nothing. I tried not to look at her bruised and scratched eyelids when I did carry her because it made my heart feel as if it were breaking. It enraged me that the Legion could get away with destroying people’s souls. There was just something about this girl, like my heart and soul knew her, that made me feel like my fate was linked with hers. It drove me crazy trying to think about it and trying not to think about it at the same time.
    I was spot on when I estimated four days to reach the camp. When we arrived it was midday and most people were taking their breaks for lunch. Finn and I hadn’t bothered changing out of our winter clothing when we left the ice lands except to take off our masks and discard our jackets. We