XII: Heartbreak
Fari sat on her sleeping mat and heard Akshara screaming.
“Akshara?” she asked.
She closed her eyes and saw an endless sea of stars stretch out before her. And among those stars she could see Akshara falling through the abyss.
“No!” Fari shouted. She stood up and shook her head. “No. No. No!”
She ran from her room, until she became exhausted, and collapsed on the floor of the temple. She heard the approaching footsteps of Sarkasi.
“Get up, girl,” Sarkasi said. “It’s time for you to claim your throne as empress of all Aya. There’s nothing stopping you anymore.”
“I don’t want it anymore,” Fari said. “Akshara’s gone—I can feel it.”
Sarkasi knelt before her.
“You are Tars’keli’s representative on Aya. You are the heart of the world, Fari! But now that your
