An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

by Sabaa Tahir

No one looks at Barrius’s bloody remains. He is a traitor. He is nothing. But someone should stay. Someone should mourn him, even if for a moment.

Demetrius, who screamed in futile rage after he watched his ten-year-old brother whipped to death by the Commandant for desertion. He smiles when he sees me coming, drops his weapon and waits as if the edge of my blade is a gift.

Here, now, he is just Elias and I am just Laia, and we are, both of us, drowning.