"There's something I need to tell you."

Sophie's eyes meet mine, and I am immediately reminded of how different she is. She's still my best friend, but her gaze is more confident, her shoulders sturdier. It's been months since I was taken from Herald, and the changes in her are obvious to anyone who has eyes. I love her all the more for it.

"Please don't tell me you lost Ryne's dagger again, Markee."

My mouth falls open. "That was one time!" I exclaim, tossing my red hair over my shoulder. "Besides, he deserved it. He called me a heathen, Soph! It was hardly polite." So I had stolen my former captor's weapon and decided to hide it from him. Only, I hid it a little too well.

Sophie raises an eyebrow.

"Really, it's important," I say. "Follow me."

As we walk through the narrow streets of Keir, I ignore the stares and whispers from people on the sidewalks. I know they bother Sophie, so my pace is brisk as we make our way to Sol and Eli's house.

The large brick facade is just as imposing as the first time I laid eyes on it. I am eternally grateful that Sol has allowed Sophie and I to stay here all these weeks, but my skin itches with the need to leave as soon as possible. I swallow the apprehension creeping its way up my throat.

How am I supposed to tell her?

When we are settled in our bedroom, I plop down on my rumpled covers and hug a down-stuffed pillow against my stomach.

"We never talked about that day in the forest. When we saw an Outlander for the first time," I say and pull my lower lip between my teeth.

She stares at me from her neatly-made bed. Her violet eyes narrow, as if trying to puzzle out where this conversation is going. Of course she remembers finding the hole in the wall, and the Outlander who chased us down in the woods. "I didn't know we needed to talk about it," she replies simply.

I pluck a feather jutting out of the pillowcase, and twirl it in my fingers. "That day, I wanted to see the Outlands for myself. I..." Taking a breath, I meet her curious gaze. "I wanted to find an Outlander."

I expect her to be mad, or even the littlest bit surprised, but she just gives me her signature Sophie smile.

"I knew something was off," she says. "You had been acting... different. I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time, but it never crossed my mind again after coming to the Outlands." She pauses, obviously waiting for me to explain. I let go of the feather and pluck another from the pillow in my lap.

I have to tell her now, before it's too late. I've already made up my mind, and I want to get to Herald before Placement begins. Sophie sits patiently as I reach into my shirt and pull out the leather cord hanging around my neck. She has seen it hundreds of times, since I never take it off, but I can sense that she now understands that it's connected to something important

It's the only secret I ever kept from her.

"This was my grandmother's necklace," I begin, sticking to the facts as I finger the three clay beads strung on the worn leather.

"I know," Sophie says. "You've worn it since I've known you. I don't think I've ever seen you without it."

I nod, my knee bouncing with nerves. I hate this tension. I hate it. I want to just blurt out what I want to say because I have no idea how to soften the blow. I was never one to beat around the bush, but this is a truth I've never spoken aloud. But Sophie is my cloest, most trusted friend, and she's in love with Outlander, so she of all people would understand, right? The words bubble up out of me in a violent rush.

"My grandmother wasn't from Herald. My dad wasn't born here. I wanted to see if the rumors were true." I meet Sophie's eyes and see the wheels spinning, never one to jump to conclusions. I decide to spell it out for her. "My family is from the Outlands."

Her jaw drops, but her shock quickly transforms into a grin of awe. "Markee! That is amazing! Luke told me once that there were Outlanders who made it into Herald and blended in with the community." She looks at me and her smile dims a fraction. "But... why do you still look like your world just capsized?"

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. "While I was captive in Keir, I learned that there are dozens of messages that get sent across the wall every day. So I tried to reach out to my dad to tell him I'm okay. It was only yesterday that I received a reply."

Sophie gets up from her spot and sits beside me atop my quilt. She reaches up to take my hand, and it's only then that I realize it was clenched tight around my necklace.

"What did the letter say?" she asks, squeezing my fingers. My temper flares at the rememberance, and I want to scream.

"The Council found out. My dad and uncle were sent to the labor camps."

In the quiet room, her gasp is loud in my ears. Her face crumples in sadness, but I don't feel an ounce of it.

All I feel is rage.

I am angry at the world for being so cruel. Unfair. My father was born to an Outlander, but crossed over as a child. Pop and Gran kept him and my uncle safe, undetected for decades. Why is it a crime to want a better life? After the Breach that stole me away, there was no stopping the inquisition that followed. Anyone suspicious was taken in, and my cousin was the only one to be spared. She's the one who got the message to me.

"I have to go back. I need to get them out of there. " And make the Council pay. With Skinwalkers taken care of, it's time for justice. The people of Herald have been kept in the dark for too long.

Sophie stares as though she's looking through me, seeing a distant place and time. Then she's back, and her arms are around me in a crushing hug. I cling to her and breathe in her undying support. It puts steel in my spine to do what I have to do.

"Bring them down," she whispers in my ear. " Even if it takes one stone at a time."

And I will. The Council doesn't know what's coming. I will free my family, and show Herald just how savage the Outlands can be.

The wall will fall, and I will be there to watch it crumble.

____________________________

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♢ ♢ ♢ THE END ♢ ♢ ♢