“All right,” I said. “But I know the difference between those dreams. I know that one is silly and forgettable to everyone but Zara, because she loves holding things over my head for seven years, and that one feels like fire in my soul. Like wings. Like stars.” No, they couldn’t understand that. I tried again: “Like a memory.”

Light. Dark. Light. Dark. LaLa and Crystal continued their game while the others absorbed everything I said. It was hard to blame them for doubting.

“None of you have to come along,” I said after a few minutes. “None of you are obligated.”

“Well,” Gerel said. “That’s a dumb thing to say. Obviously, I can’t let you go off to the empire alone.”

“We all already said we’d go.” Ilina clicked for Crystal, then petted her dragon’s nose. “If Nine says yes. But you know I’ll go anywhere with you, wingsister.”

“Do you really think you can do it?” Hristo asked. “Save the Fallen Isles, I mean.”

“I think,” I said slowly, “if we are all together, we have a chance.”

“‘Hate cannot abide where many stand in love,’” Chenda murmured.

“Who are we, though?” Ilina asked. “Why should we have more authority than Paorah when it comes to making deals with other lands? Even if it wasn’t a fair election, people voted for him. No one chose us.”

No one spoke for a few minutes, that thought weighing us down.

“I was chosen,” I said. “It was a fluke. I happened to be born on the right day to get a treaty named after me. But no one chose any of you.”

A pout formed on Ilina’s mouth.

“You chose yourselves.” I met their eyes one at a time: Chenda and Gerel, leaning against the metal bars of the brig and holding hands; Ilina, twisting a braid around her finger; Zara, cleaning under her fingernails like she didn’t care about any of this; Hristo, half sitting on one of the barrels; and Aaru, tilting his head while he looked at me. “Every one of you chose to stand up for something greater than greed or hatred. You made a choice to protect other people at the cost of your own freedom or happiness. Some of you went to prison for it.” I swallowed hard, thinking about all the things my friends had given up.

Families.

Freedom.

Comfort.

Safety.

“And yet,” I said, “you chose to be chosen.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Zara glanced up. “I didn’t choose myself. I’m only here because you’re supposed to protect me, which so far has put me in more danger than I’ve ever been in.”

“Sorry.”

My sister shrugged and tapped the side of her head. “I’m keeping it all in here so I can tell Mother later, assuming we don’t die.”

I sighed but went back to the point I was trying to make. “Look at us.” I gestured around at everyone. “There are seven islands, and seven of us. And look at your gifts. You’re powerful, all of you. Surely you’ve noticed that your gifts are strong even away from your home islands. We’ve seen the way Chenda wields shadow even so far from Bopha, and how Aaru manipulates silence on the other side of the Fallen Isles from Idris. The way Ilina and Zara talked people in Flamecrest into giving us bargains was nothing short of divine. Gerel, you fought all of Altan’s warriors when they boarded the Chance Encounter. And Hristo—”