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storm about to break.
Asterin sat back in the saddle, but kept her
shirt open.
“The choice of how our people’s future
shall be shaped is yours,” Manon told each of
the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks
who might fly to war and never return. “But I
will tell you this.” Her hands shook, and she
fisted them on her thighs. “There is a better
world out there. And I have seen it.”
Even the Thirteen looked toward her now.
“I have seen witch and human and Fae
dwell together in peace. And it is not a
weakness to do so, but a strength. I have met
kings and queens whose love for their
kingdoms, their peoples, is so great that the
self is secondary. Whose love for their people
is so strong that even in the face of
unthinkable odds, they do the impossible.”
Manon lifted her chin. “You are my people.