Lucha

a long bone knife strapped to her belt, boots

slim as a sword in the moonlight. Two braids streamed down her back, her lightly freckled face turned upward

The neat line of stitches extended along her cheekbone farther than she’d expected

Lucha hung the sharp, terrible thing [beak] alongside her knife and filled the pouch at her waist with talons to sell or trade.

Some impulse led Lucha to pull one of the sombralado’s talons from the pouch on her belt.

She could feel the bone blade strapped to her thigh.

Lucha dressed in one of several white robes

With steady hands and dry eyes, Lucha pulled one of the deep green cloaks on, covering as much of her telltale white robe as she could. Thus disguised,

Lucha stood in the center of the glade, wind whipping her hair from her braids

Lis

Lis wore a short skirt and their mother’s favorite scarf tied into a top that left her shoulders bare. Her hair was loose, eyes lined with something dark.

They were near the same height now. It surprised her. But she still grabbed her sister’s upper arm hard enough to pinch and dragged her from the scene.

We’ll blend in, I bet. We’re lighter than most Puertanos, but only because of all these gloomy shadows. I bet we’d brown right up after a few days in the sun.” Lucha laughed at her fair sister, her dark hair and eyes. It was easy to picture her sun-kissed and healthy, too.

She was dressed in black, but barely. A skirt that skimmed her wasted thighs. A top that showed midriff and shoulders both. The jutting bones of her lowermost ribs protruded, jabbing at her sallow skin. In the front of her hair—lustrous and black like their mother’s—was a white streak, wide as three fingers.

Across the arm Alán had been holding, a ladder of scars became visible. Some were shining and white against the tan of her skin. Some were much newer, barely scabbing over

Her hood obscured her face, but no one was looking at her. Inside, Lis sat up in bed. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes sparkled. There was a tiny yellow-eyed kitten in her lap. She wore the pale green robes of a second-ring devotee, and around her three healers teased the kitten