Tam was breaking.
She could see it.
Not in a literal way.
But she could see the bags under his eyes, and the way his hair was messy. He'd been stressing and worrying too much.
Linh wanted to tell him that it was okay.
But she couldn't.
It wasn't okay.
All they could do now was hope. Hope that the gnomes got cured. Hope that Exillium would become safe. Hope that one day, they'd be safe.
Everyone would be safe.
Linh had told Tam, that if they could, they would find a way to save the gnomes. Whatever it took. If it meant breaking the law, they'd do it. And then, they would leave.
Because they couldn't stay here any longer.
Linh didn't show it, but she was scared. When she was falling, helpless, about to die, she'd realized she wasn't safe. Her brother wasn't safe. No one was.
She wanted Exillium to be gone.
She wanted to end it. Her brother was slowly breaking, out of guilt for something he couldn't control. No one would listen to her when she said something was wrong. They had both almost died, several times. Everyone in Exilium had.
No one cared.
Linh could deal if she got hurt, but she knew her brother's mind was on the verge of breaking. Unless they escaped and found safety. But if they did, they'd probably never see the gnomes again, because they'd be on run from the law.
They were stuck.
Linh and her brother were waiting, in the early morning. New recruits were supposed to come. They weren't supposed to know about it, but they'd heard someone whisper "new Waywards" which probably meant that. Maybe not.
Linh couldn't be sure of anything anymore.
She grasped her brother's hand, as they worked. Physical touch was frowned upon in Exilium, but they both needed each other right then. The time passed with them working on outward channeling.
A while later, everything changed.
5 people were hung from the Arch of Dividing.
4 people were sorted into other hemispheres.
3 shadow-whispering conversations occurred between the twins.
2 times they talked to the brown-eyed girl.
1 day changed their lives, right in front of their eyes.
Just like it did for so many other people.
All because of a girl named Sophie Foster.
