Role

Chapter 4

Tisus and Melirene - once inseparable - were constantly at odds. Tisus swore
that Melirene could have stopped Asteli from leaving the Inn. Why didn't she
follow her sister? It wasn't a man's place to go marching up into his sister's
room. This argument would have held more weight had Tisus and Melirene not
shared a room for most of their childhood. Melirene was furious at Tisus for
writing Asteli off. Their older sister hadn't been prepared for war - everyone
knew that. If anyone could get her back from the Village, it would have been
him. Instead, Tisus had shrugged and hoped that Asteli would find 'some peace
in the huts'.

______ had tried to mend the divide, but they were both weary and urged her to
look after Mother and Father. Tisus came and left at odd hours of the night,
his body covered in bruises and welts. Melirene retreated to the sanctum that
was the Inn's garden. Nestled between the stables and the sheds, she spent her
days up to her elbows in dirt and vines, coaxing vegetables and flowers to
sprout from the arid soil. Melirene had even convinced Father to buy a length
of netting to protect the squash from the desert sands that floated upon the
winds.

The twins' arguing got worse over the summer months. Tisus was convinced that
the family would be safer if they stayed in the cities. Proud as could be, he
had been accepted into the Tribunal as a magistrate of Hamsah Mu'tazz. He
bragged about how he didn't need to go to Seantryn like the other young
magistrates - *he* had knowledge of the darkened alleys that the Spire needed.

Melirene gave Tisus a wide berth - only appearing in the Inn to visit ______
if she knew Tisus was on duty or speaking to the other magistrates stationed
in Galadon. ______ tried to remind Melirene that Tisus had always loved the
cities, but there was no way for an outsider to mend the divide. One late
night, Melirene snuck into her room, hugged her youngest sister tightly, and
confessed that she would be leaving to join the Outlanders. The news was no
shock to ______. If a young Tisus put his faith in the walls of the cities,
his sister had pledged herself to the climbing ivy that covered the bricks.
Melirene spoke up as she tightened the straps on her ratty knapsack,

"I can't tell him. He'll hate me even more... but... remind him that I love
him?"

Melirene pulled ______ into her arms and hugged her, whispering a prayer to
Thar-Eris for protection before ducking out of the fourth-floor window to
climb to the roof. A fierce scream of pain and defiance echoed through the
starlit night. Melirene was gone too.