"Sometimes the darkness awakens the very light we never knew we carried."
As Taemin sat curled on the edge of the bed Nyra had prepared for her, her damp hair falling like a dark river over her shoulders, and she looked cleaner now, freer, but still marked by what she had endured. The bruises, the faint scars, the hardened light in her eyes were reminders of a story I had not been there to stop. I pulled the chair closer to her bed and leaned forward, elbows on my knees, studying her. For a long while, I did not know how to begin what was gnawing at me in my heart, and my chest felt heavy, full of questions, but only one managed to push through the haze.
"How did you know?" My voice was softer than I intended, almost hoarse. "How did you know I was here, in the Northern Kingdom… and why didn't I sense you? You are my twin, Taemin. I should have known. I should have felt something."
