Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)

Briony thought it was strange that she didn't feel it when her brother died.

The crack of the evaporating boundary rattled her ribs, and rock scraped under her fingertips as she gripped the ledge overlooking what remained of Evermore—but she felt nothing in her soul when Rory died.

As his twin, she had tugged on the thread between them many times before—when he was injured, when he needed help.

Briony reached for that thread now, seeking the vein of magic in her chest reserved solely for Rory.

Only dark silence answered. She supposed she'd had no premonition when her father fell four years ago, either. Her mother had already been dead when Briony was cut from her womb.

But when the dust billowed like a cloud on a summer afternoon just under half a mile away, and the calm that had curled around her and Cordelia collapsed into rumbling chaos, Briony knew Rory was dead.

His protective boundary around the castle had fallen. He was dead.

And yet her soul didn't tear in half.

Briony watched the moon slide away from the sun, the eclipse ending as soon as it had begun.

How strange, she thought numbly.

"No…" Cordelia whispered.

Briony looked to her right and found her friend's fingertips pale, almost translucent against her lips.

The wind whipped Cordelia's auburn hair across her eyes, as if trying to spare her the sight.

On Cordelia's other side, Anna stepped to the balcony ledge as if in a trance, mouth agape.

Sunlight reflected off the purple rose crest on her armor.

Briony looked back to the cloud of dust and ash that blossomed higher, covering the moon and the sun in their dance. She saw its reflection to her left in the lake water.

The last dragon flapped spindly wings and soared away from the mess of humans on the battlefield, returning north.

"Stay here," Anna said, running quickly toward the balcony stairs. She pivoted, changing her mind. "No… You should go inside. Get somewhere safe and wait."

Briony stared at her. Cordelia choked on a sob.

Anna met her gaze, and Briony watched the guard's mind whirl through plans and strategies. Anna was meant to stay by her side; she had held Briony as a baby and promised her father she would give her life for Briony's.

Before she could overthink it, Anna darted down the stairs.

Briony turned back to the dust cloud, wondering if parts of her brother were lost inside it. Her brother, who was supposed to end this war. Her brother, the foretold one.

She gasped then, as if the notion of a failed prophecy was the slap she needed.

Rory was gone. Tears filled her eyes on a shuddering inhale. She imagined the front lines. A thousand soldiers realizing that their long-held hope, their Heir Twice Over, was just a man after all.

She shrugged off her cape. It would only hinder her run. Neither would her slippers or draped silk gown help, but she didn't have time to change.

She had one foot on the stairs when Cordelia grabbed her wrist, tugging her back. "Where are you going?" Panic pinched her voice. "We have to hide!"

Briony laid a hand on her friend's wrist. "If we hide, we'll be the last ones left," she said, her voice flat.

Cordelia's blue eyes widened. The moment her grip relaxed, Briony spun and raced down the stairs, her friend's light footsteps chasing after her.