Spero's Arc

Chapter 10 of 10

The squad tracked the rainbow dragons through the old sewers below the city. For hours they waded through filth and dark. At last they cornered a cluster of the tiny creatures in a flooded chamber. Their scales flashed red, blue, gold in the torchlight. Rebecca directed the capture like a general. Spero fought at her side, covering her blind spots the way he'd learned to cover Valeria's. When the last dragon dropped into a net, the squad cheered. Rebecca grinned at him. "You move well. I'm glad you're one of us." The words cut deeper than any blade. She trusted a lie. They climbed out and traveled to the kingdom's heart to present the dragons to the Empress. Marble halls swallowed the squad's footsteps. Guards lined every wall. Spero kept his head down. Then he saw her, chained near a side corridor, spiky hair matted, one eye swollen. Valeria. Alive. Captured. His three silent nights had an answer now. His pulse slammed. If Rebecca saw that face again, everything would burn. While the squad admired the great hall, Spero slipped away. He crouched behind Valeria and worked the lock with a thin blade. "Don't grin," he whispered. "Not yet." She held still for once. The chain fell. He pulled her into the shadow of a broken column. "Spero." The younger boy's voice. He stood a few steps off, staring. "Your collar." Black smeared the white cloth. In the palace heat, the dye had run. A green curl had slipped free at his neck, bright and unmistakable. The boy's eyes went wide. "Your hair. It's fake. Who are you?" Rebecca turned at the noise. Her gaze moved from the green strand to the girl beside him, then locked on Valeria's face. Recognition hit her like a slap. "You," she breathed. "The one who beat me raw." Her hand went to her sword. "You brought her in here. You lied to all of us." "I did," Spero said. His voice shook. "My name is real. My sister is real. Everything else was a shield. I never wanted to use you, Rebecca. You fed a stranger and asked no history. I paid you back with lies." He drew the forged token from his pocket, the one that let him in, and dropped it at her feet. "I'm sorry." Rebecca stared at the fallen token. Her jaw tightened. Hurt burned behind her anger. "Then run," she said. "Before I call the guards myself." Spero gripped Valeria's arm. They ran. Boots pounded marble behind them. Shouts filled the hall. He didn't look back at Rebecca's face. He couldn't. They burst through a servant's door into open air and kept moving until the palace shrank behind them. Valeria wiped blood from her lip. "Where now?" "The watchtower," Spero said. "Somewhere we can talk without walls." He had lost the squad, lost Rebecca's trust. But he had Valeria back, and the lead on his sister still burned ahead. He ran toward it.