Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Song of the Last Kingdom, #1)

by Amélie Wen Zhao

“But what they do not know is that, so long as we live on, we carry inside us all that they have destroyed. And that is our triumph; that is our rebellion.” Rain clung to his lashes as neither of them broke their gaze. “Do not let them win today.”

She would take it. She would no longer be the flower. She would be the blade.

To sit beside a boy whose status and education were to Lan’s as Heaven was to earth and have him teach her without a flicker of intolerance or judgment was a new feeling. It was a good feeling.

“There is no ‘why.’ Do not question why things are the way they are, Lan. It will only bring you misery.”

“I have strength enough,” Zen said gently. “What use is power if I cannot protect those without it?”

One thought pierced through the haze in his mind, and he felt the corners of his lips curl. “You came for me.”

“I want you to have it,” Zen said, “to remember that you are not alone. That you have lost so much, but I…I am glad to have found you.”

“I wish for you to not go anywhere without me. In this world and the next. I wish for you to choose me.” A pause, and softer: “That is, if you would wish it.”