Lily
I slipped out of Elis's bed like a thief at dawn, careful not to wake him. His warmth still clung to my skin, the memory of his arms around me making every step away feel heavier than my own heart. I didn't look back, not because I didn't want to, but because I knew if I did, I might never leave.
The corridors were hushed, lit only by the faint gold glow of the lanterns. My bare feet whispered against the marble as I made my way to my own chambers. Once inside, I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, exhaling slowly. The air here felt different; colder and heavier, as though it already knew what I was about to do.
I went to my wardrobe and pulled out the worn leather bag I had hidden behind a stack of folded shawls. My hands moved with both urgency and precision, selecting the things I could not leave without.
First, my grandmother's diary. The faded leather cover was warm under my fingertips, as though it still held her voice, her wisdom. Then the spellbook, its ancient pages alive with symbols that shifted and shimmered when I looked too long. Finally, the small iron keys I had found in that hidden box months ago. They rattled faintly in my palm, a sound that felt like both a warning and a promise.
I placed them carefully in the bag, securing each item as though they were pieces of my soul.
Then came the part I dreaded, the Cloning.
I moved to the center of my chamber, pushing aside the rug until the runes beneath were exposed, etched deep into the stone floor. Kneeling, I placed my hands flat against them. The cold immediately sank into my bones, and I began the chant I've memorised from the spellbook.
My voice trembled at first, but the words took on power as they spilled from my lips, winding around me like a living thing. The air thickened, pressing in on all sides, until the candles flickered violently and then went still, as though even the flame held its breath.
The runes flared to life beneath my palms—first a soft white, then blinding gold. My breath caught as the light rose, shaping itself into a figure. My figure.
She stood before me, identical in every way; my eyes, my hair, even the faint scar on my wrist. But her gaze was blank, obedient, waiting.
I stepped forward, my voice low but firm as I spoke the final binding words. Her chest rose with the first breath I had given her. My breath.
"You know your purpose," I whispered. She nodded once, silent.
When it was done, the light faded, and my clone stood there in stillness, ready to take my place. The room felt emptier somehow, though there were now two of me in it.
I tightened the strap of my bag across my shoulder. This was it. The last step before I walked out of this palace not as Lily the healer, but as Lily Solfrai, the warrior bound for the other side.
And somewhere down the hall, Elis still slept; dreaming, perhaps, that I was beside him.
The entire day belonged to her training.
I dressed her in my favorite gown, made her repeat the small flourishes of my walk, the slight tilt of my head when listening. I showed her which dresses were for outdoors and which were for indoors. We rehearsed how to greet Sera—always with a formal bow but never eye contact too long. Maris—short, respectful answers, nothing more. I warned her of the foods I avoided, the routes through the palace that kept her out of trouble, the places she must never linger.
Most importantly, I made her practice how to address the King should she cross his path. Calm, deferential, but never submissive. And there were people, certain ones, she must never, under any circumstance, speak to.
By the time night fell, she moved, spoke, and even frowned exactly like me. Watching her pace my chamber was like watching my own ghost rehearse for a play.
When the last light bled from the horizon, I dressed in my traveling cloak and drew the teleportation sigil in the air. The air shimmered, folding like a door, and I stepped through. In the blink of an eye, my chamber dissolved and the scent of pine and woodsmoke filled my lungs.
I stood in the heart of my grandmother's cabin.
A slow smile spread across my face.
I had arrived exactly where I needed to be.
***
Elis's pov
I woke to cold sheets.
For a few moments, I lay there, eyes half-shut, reaching for her out of habit. My fingers met only rumpled linen and empty space.
A tightness gripped my chest.
"Lily?" My voice came out hoarse, uncertain and half-expecting her to answer from the bathing chamber or with that teasing lilt from the corner of the room. Silence answered me instead.
I sat up, scanning the chamber. No flutter of her robes on the chair. No trace of her scent lingering warm in the air, only the faint, cooling fragrance of her skin on the pillow.
I pushed to my feet, the unease clawing up my spine. She wouldn't have just… left. Not without waking me. Not after last night.
"Lily," I called again, louder this time, my pulse quickening. The guards outside the door shifted at the sound, but no one entered. I crossed the room, searching—absurdly checking behind the screens, peering out the window toward the courtyard below.
She was gone.
She told me she'd leave in two days so why get out of my bed in such a hurry?
I sat there, staring at the empty space where she should have been, the sheets still faintly warm. Was she in her chambers now… or had she gone already?
And her clone…
I couldn't stop wondering. Had she actually succeeded with the spell? Or was it just another one of her wild experiments?
I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself, her words from last night echoing in my skull like a drumbeat; her warnings, her instructions, her promise.
Wait for my return.
My eyes dropped to the necklace still hanging around my neck, the one she'd placed there with such urgency. I clutched it like a lifeline.
"You promised," I murmured into the stillness. "So come back to me Lily."