Swan Song

Biana Short Story

Welcome, welcome back! Every book since Nightfall has a short story, and since I don't feel like PMing for "special editions," it's just being published in the main fanfiction. Yayyyyyy!

And, here is your bonus short story! The poll ended up with a tie between Marella and Biana, so I made myself the tiebreaker vote. Why? BECAUSE I'M THE FRICKIN' AUTHOR, I GET TO CHOOSE WHAT I WRITE.

Oh, and I chose Biana.

Enjoy!

"You'll understand, someday, when you see the Vacker legacy for what it is."

The Vacker legacy.

Even in her sleep, Biana's mind searches for an answer to the Vacker legacy, and she subconsciously pulls at her hair in frustration when she finds nothing. Her thoughts, not getting anywhere anyway, are interrupted by an alarm beeping. She slowly slips back into wakefulness.

The morning starts the way it always does, at least in the first thirty seconds. After that, though, things instantly diverge from Biana's normal routine the second she realizes.

It's been a year since Alvar betrayed them.

It's stupid to be aware of that fact, let alone let it get to her. Elves don't care about anniversaries of anything. With their indefinite lifespans, keeping track of that stuff is such a headache. Most days, Biana doesn't even spare a glance at the calendar hanging up in her room. It's probably on the wrong month. But the fact that she's gone around the sun one whole time without Alvar seems pretty significant.

Although she's typically excited enough about the upcoming day to get up the first time the alarm goes off, needing the time to eat breakfast, find the right outfit, and do makeup, as soon as the reality of what today is settles in, Biana wants nothing more than to hide her head under the fluffy pillows and sink back into the blissful oblivion of sleep. So she does, until Fitz comes into her room and forcefully rips off the covers.

"Wake up, Biana!" he yells. Upon seeing his teal eyes glare at her, Biana's first thought is Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Her second is Oh. Right.

Fitz isn't done yelling. "Mom won't let me leave until we're both ready, and I refuse to be late for school because my little sister was too lazy to wake up on time, so get up!"

"Tell Mom I'm sick." In truth, she does feel sick. Lethargic. It isn't a virus, though.

Fitz snorts. "Good luck convincing her of that. Now I'm not telling you again, get up!"

"If you're not telling me again, I can go back to sleep."

"Biana!" he shouts, grabbing her arm and dragging her upright. Biana stretches before shoving him out of her room and examining her closet. Part of her wants to wear something simple and dark, not bothering to look pretty, but another part wants to look extra beautiful, almost like showing Alvar he had no effect on her. A lie, but whatever. She eventually decides on beautiful and grabs a dress she's been in love with ever since she saw it at that store in Atlantis. It has a sparkly light pink top with spaghetti straps, and the flowing skirt is a gorgeous ombre with blues, greens, and that same sort of pink. Instantly after putting it on, she feels a little better. Not much, but a little.

Her hair is a disaster, and she doesn't have time to do much with it, so she just brushes it and lets her hair hang loose. Makeup, though, can't be skipped. Luckily, she's applied it enough times to rush through the process of making her lips dark red, her skin smooth, her cheeks pink. After adding sparkly light blue eyeshadow she's been told makes her teal eyes pop, she starts adding mascara. Fitz bursts in right as she's bringing the mascara to her eye, surprising her to the point where she nearly stabs herself.