Summary

Part I: The Raid

I: Laia – Seventeen-year-old Laia’s brother, Darin, sneaks into the house with a sketchbook and smelling of the Serra forges after being out all night. Laia worries for his safety because he is the only brother she has left, and because there are many patrols out in the street. She does not like how Darin sneaks out, and how Pop and Nan (their grandparents) must shoulder the healing business on their own. She worries Darin is secretly working for the Martials, and siding with the Empire even after the Empire killed their parents. Darin tells her it is not what she thinks that he will explain everything, but a raid begins instead. Laia hides her brother’s sketchbook in the bush outside the window, while Pop and Nan urge both Laia and Darin to run to the...