A ​Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes, #4)

by Sabaa Tahir

The space he leaves is vast, that gnawing loneliness of showing your heart to someone only to find they never wanted to see it.

We will win, or we will die. We will take back our city for our people, or we will watch the Empire fall. Now. Tonight.” I put my fist to my heart. “Loyal to the end.” They do not roar their support, for secrecy is our advantage this night. Instead, they thump their fists to their hearts once.

It thuds to the earth, ruined now, its sweetness curdled by dust.

In his hands, I am beautiful, sacred, beloved.

I cannot quite look at him when I say it. “May death claim me first.” “Ah, no, my love.” He gathers me close. “You cannot go first. I could not make sense of the world if you did.”

“I do not think the answer is in words, love,” she says. “I think it is in living. In finding joy, however small, in every day. We’ll struggle to trust happiness at first, perhaps. But we can trust ourselves to reach for it always.