Candles flickered along the hallway, their dim light barely pushing back the darkness as heavy curtains blocked out the night.
Footsteps echoed in a hurried hush as Zarah made her way to Iris's chamber.
She knocked sharply.
"Iree! Iree!" she called in a hushed voice.
Inside, Iris stirred slightly, pulling her blanket over her ears.
Zarah knocked again, louder.
"IRIS!"
"Huh? Yes?" Iris jolted upright, glanced around sleepily, then promptly collapsed back into bed.
"IRIS, OPEN THE DOOR!" Zarah snapped, knocking again.
Iris sat up once more, startled.
"Huh? What—Zar?"
She stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over her own feet before making her way to the door and pulling it open.
Zarah slipped inside immediately, shutting the door behind her.
"What took you so long?" she demanded.
Iris gave her a flat, deadpan look, yawning.
"Gee, I don't know, Zar. Maybe because I was sleeping at 3 a.m. like a person with a healthy sleep schedule."
Zarah chuckled sheepishly.
"It's not 3 a.m. yet…"
"2:57 isn't exactly that far from 3," Iris muttered, glancing at the clock.
She turned, walked back to the bed, and face-planted straight into the mattress.
"Iree!" Zarah followed after her. "Get up! The Goddess Aelthrya visited me!"
"Mhm," Iris mumbled into the pillow. "And I'm married to the Empress Dowager."
Zarah smacked the back of her head.
"Ow! What the hell, Zar?" Iris snapped, lifting her head.
Zarah tossed the lilac flower crown straight at her face.
"Look at this."
The flower crown landed on Iris's face.
She groaned, pulling it off and glancing at it.
"Wow. Flowers," Iris said dryly.
"By all means, if you feel a sudden surge of devotion toward Goddess Aelthrya at this hour, you're free to go worship her."
She tossed the crown back at Zarah and tried to bury her face into the mattress again.
Zarah huffed and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.
"Get up, get up!"
"If you are feeling needy, go to Her Majesty the Empress!" Iris whined, shoving her away. "Let me sleep!"
"Iris!" Zarah snatched a pillow and threw it at her.
"Goddess Aelthrya visited me, she said this is my third life, that I won't get another chance after this, that I must not fail her or I'll have no life after this one, and the brothel is probably on fire and I might have healing powers I need to awaken and—"
Iris shot upright.
Her eyes were wide as she clapped a hand over Zarah's mouth.
"I am up now," she said, all traces of sleep gone.
"Start again. Slowly."
Zarah nodded quickly, pulling her thoughts together as Iris stared at her, waiting.
Rain poured heavily over the dying flames that had once swallowed the brothel whole. Smoke rose in thin, hissing trails as the fire finally began to weaken.
"Captain," Diana said, her voice tense, "there are nineteen dead… some of them newborns."
Nolan inhaled slowly, rain dripping from his soaked uniform.
"Prepare their last rites and burial," he said.
A faint tick formed in his jaw.
"What about the injured?"
Diana hesitated.
"Seven or eight are critical. We need to move them to the palace immediately, our healers won't be enough here."
Her gaze shifted.
An eight-year-old girl lay motionless on the ground beside her, her body burned along one side. A group of girls, no older than her, huddled around her, sobbing uncontrollably.
Diana swallowed and forced herself to look away.
"Control yourself, Diana," Nolan said firmly, turning his gaze toward where Rosetta was being held. "You've served long enough to know this is not the time to falter."
His voice hardened.
"Gather the magic-bearing soldiers. Contact the Imperial mages. We're initiating a teleportation circle."
He paused briefly.
"All injured are to be transported to the Imperial Palace immediately."
Julie sat off to the side, her body barely holding together.
Her arms were burned.
Her back was worse, skin charred, raw, barely intact.
Each breath came shallow and uneven.
Still, she held Jennifer tightly against her chest.
"Miss Jennifer…" she whispered, her voice trembling as tears slid down her face.
"Will you still reject me?"
Jennifer's body was burned along her arms and legs, though not as severely.
She had been inside the brothel when the fire broke out, trying to move the money she had stolen from the accounts to safety.
She would have died there.
Julie had noticed she was missing.
She had gone back.
Dragged her out.
Burned herself in the process.
Jennifer's money was gone now.
Reduced to ash.
A small, bitter part of her ached at that.
'If I had at least saved some of it… maybe this wouldn't feel so pointless.'
At Julie's question, Jennifer looked at her.
"You're not dying," she said. "So there's no need for me to accept anything."
But she didn't pull away.
Instead, she leaned her head more firmly against Julie.
Julie smiled faintly, her strength fading.
"I'm worried about Miss Halley…" she murmured. "She was hit by debris… badly burned…"
"Halley will be fine," Jennifer said. "That woman's stickier than wet paint."
Julie let out a weak breath that almost resembled a laugh.
Then her body sagged slightly.
A healer rushed over, and froze.
"These burns…" they gasped. "There's already infection setting in!"
Another healer hurried to Jennifer's side while the first began working desperately on Julie.
The healer poured magic into Julie's body.
The burns began to close,
But Julie didn't respond.
The damage had already spread too deep. Her organs had been burned beyond what simple healing could repair.
"We're losing her!" the healer shouted, panic breaking through their composure.
The second healer rushed over, immediately joining in, pouring more magic into Julie in a desperate attempt to stabilize her.
Jennifer's eyes widened as she moved to Julie's side.
Julie's breaths hitched weakly.
She turned her head slightly, her gaze finding Jennifer.
And she smiled.
Her eyes slowly closed.
Jennifer froze.
Julie's voice echoed in her mind.
"Will you still reject me?"
"I wouldn't," Jennifer said quickly, the words spilling out. "I wouldn't reject you. I'd accept it… I'd even give you a share of the money—"
She reached out...
But a healer caught her wrist.
"Don't," they said sharply. "She's gone. There's already infection spreading, we need to move her."
The other healer lifted Julie's body, carrying her toward the line of the dead.
Jennifer stood still, watching.
She didn't cry.
She didn't feel like crying.
She didn't even like Julie.
She had only said those words because Julie had been useful, helping her move money, covering for her mistakes, doing whatever she was told without question.
The girl had been too naive.
Too devoted.
Too easy.
Jennifer exhaled slowly.
She hadn't lost anything important.
…Just an accomplice.
She pushed herself to her feet.
Halley.
Whatever their differences, they had once shared the same room.