A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)

by Sabaa Tahir

“Always so afraid of the darkness within.” Mamie takes my hands. “Don’t you see? So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light.”

“You are my temple,” I murmur as I kneel beside her. “You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.”

He should be innocent. But he’s seen things no child should. Who will he be when he grows up? What will all this violence make him? Will he survive?

“But my honor also demands that I not take a woman’s decision about her own fate away from her. Skies knows there’s enough of that in this blasted world.”

Trust that I’ll do the right thing. Have I steered you wrong yet?”

A week ago, I’d have said the words out loud. But since Keenan took the yoke of leadership from me, I’ve felt weaker. Diminished. As if I grow smaller by the day.

I miss that girl. That Laia. That version of myself that burned brightest when Elias Veturius was near.

“There’s no alone or together on that side. I think it’s different.”

days. I could kiss her, I’m so happy to see her.

through. A Tribeswoman breaking a sacred vow is foul enough. But to do it when another woman’s life is at stake? That is unforgiveable—as

Though the Martials have already killed hundreds of my people, a thousand Scholars still sit in those pens, awaiting death. They are ill, starved, and half-frozen from the cold.