Wirr watched him go for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and refocused, scanning the crowd for any of the people he needed to talk to. The battle was over, but his jubilation at the victory was already fading.
The real challenges were about to begin.
***
Davian sat on the palace steps, doing his best to fend off exhaustion.
Asha sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him, occasionally shifting her weight but always touching, as if to reassure herself he was really there. He understood the sentiment. The past few hours – the past few days – had gone by in one stunning blur, and it was only now that events were slowing, allowing him time to process everything properly, that it was beginning to set in. Asha was alive. She was alive. It was a miracle.
Davian knew he should already have left, but he once again pushed that uncomfortable thought to the back of his mind. Despite their emotional and physical tiredness, he and Asha had spent the last couple of hours exchanging their stories, determined to spend some time in each others’ company. For a short time, the horrors they had just witnessed faded into the background as they smiled and laughed together; even after the months apart they had fallen back into an easy, comfortable rhythm in their conversation, allaying Davian’s fears that things might have changed between them.
Eventually, though, the trials of the day had taken their toll, and the conversation had died out. Now, they just looked out over the broken city in contemplative silence.
It was an absorbing scene. The hellish red of the fires in the Lower and Middle Districts still illuminated the city, some of the taller buildings below silhouetted against the flames. Soldiers were hard at work bringing the various blazes under control, though; as little as a half-hour ago the entire Lower District had seemed to be ablaze, but now only a few smaller sections by the docks appeared to be alight.
Though it was mostly invisible against the night sky, Davian knew that black smoke was billowing overhead, blotting out any stars that might have been showing through the clouds. Fortunately a gentle breeze seemed to be pushing most of it away from the Upper District, but the smell had still managed to saturate everything. He’d almost grown accustomed to it by now, but sometimes still winced at the acrid taste at the back of his throat when he inhaled, the slight burning in his lungs.
Soldiers and civilians alike still dotted the blackened palace grounds in front of them. The last of the wounded were being treated by a combination of Gifted and physicians, and those who had some lesser medicinal knowledge were also helping where they could.
Despite everything, the mood was noticeably upbeat. Even attitudes towards the Gifted seemed to have shifted a little; passers-by would often smile at red-cloaked men and women, some even stopping for an apparently genial conversation. The friendliest smiles were reserved for the Gifted from Tol Shen, though. The soldiers all knew who had been there from the start, and though everyone still acknowledged Athian's contribution, it was Shen who were receiving the accolades.
Best of all, no-one appeared to be overly concerned that the Tenets had been changed – in fact from what Davian could glean, it was a matter of some relief for a lot of people. It seemed that there would be at least one positive to come out of tonight.
"So what are you going to do now, Asha?" he asked.
Asha bit her lip. "I'm not sure yet. I'll have to talk to Michal... assuming he's okay. I saw him on the Shields a while back, but not since." She stared into space worriedly at the realisation. "Other than that, there's probably going to be an investigation into how the Shadows ended up with all those Vessels. The Tenets may have changed, but the Treaty certainly hasn't. Administration are going to want answers."
"They're going to want blood, you mean," said Davian quietly. He glanced over to where Wirr was talking with a group of noblemen in the distance. "I'm sure knowing the new head of Administration will help."
Asha followed his gaze. "Maybe," she said. "But everyone knows he's Gifted now. Administration are going to resist every decision he makes." She turned to look at him. "What about you?"
Davian hesitated, but he'd been avoiding this moment for too long already. "I have to leave. Soon."
Asha's expression was suddenly sad, but she inclined her head. "I wondered about that," she admitted. "So you're going to take up the offer the Shen Gifted made you?" Concern made her tone heavy.
"Just until the Boundary is strengthened," said Davian quickly. "Then I'm coming back. I promise."
Asha gave a slow nod. "Just make sure you do," she said. "Those stories the Elders used to tell us about Shen... I've heard some of the same things here, and I've got no reason to doubt they're true. Power really is all they care about, Dav. Once they have someone like you working for them, they're going to do everything they can to keep you. You'll be too valuable for them to just let you walk away."
Davian grimaced. "Maybe," he said. "But the Boundary's weakening and from what Caeden said, stopping it from failing entirely might be the most important thing I can do. Fates, it might be the most important thing anyone can do, right now." He sighed. "If things were different, I'd choose to stay here with you and Wirr in a heartbeat. But Caeden says there's something else coming - something worse than what we saw tonight. If that's really the case, then I have to go where I'm going to be of most use."
Asha bit her lip, but eventually gave a reluctant nod. "Have you told Wirr?"
"Yes - we've said our goodbyes." Davian glanced around nervously as he caught another flash of blue from the corner of his eye. He was tempting fate by staying this long. "I know you don't approve of Shen, but... you could come with me. From what you've been saying, it might be safer for you away from Administration, away from this Scyner and the Shadraehin."
Asha shook her head. "And be what - a servant of some kind?" She sighed. "You're right, Dav. We need to be where we're going to have the most impact, and my place is here."
Davian's heart sank, but he nodded. He'd known that would be Asha's answer, knew that they were both making the right choices. It didn't stop him from desperately wishing that things were different, though.
"I understand," he said.
Suddenly he spotted someone in a red cloak waving to him; he blinked in surprise as the figure came closer.
"Ishelle?" He stood, helping Asha to her feet too before giving the other Augur a confused smile as she approached. "What are you doing here?"
Ishelle raised an eyebrow. "You said you'd give me my answer if I came," she said, expression serious.
Davian stared at her for a moment, then laughed as he realised what she was talking about.
Ishelle grinned back, then turned her gaze to Asha. "I'm Ishelle," she said, her tone cheerful. "Davian and I met on the road a few days ago."
"Dav told me all about it," said Asha easily, giving Ishelle a polite nod. "I'm Asha."
Ishelle nodded in return, though for a moment Davian thought he saw a flash of irritation in her eyes. Then she turned back to him. "I didn't want to interrupt, but one of my friends over there " - she nodded towards where a group of red-cloaked Gifted were gathered - " overheard a couple of Administrators talking about you. They were becoming a little... agitated, apparently. I thought you might want to know."
Davian grimaced. "Wonderful." He rubbed his forehead.
Ishelle watched him closely. "Are you still coming to Tol Shen?"
Davian paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Then you should join us. It's a long trip to Prythe; I'm sure you'd prefer not to do it alone." Ishelle tugged at her cloak. "We have a spare one of these, and we're leaving straight away. We'll be out of the city before anyone thinks to look too closely at who is in the group."
Davian hesitated, but Asha laid her hand gently on his arm. "Go," she said, giving him a small smile. "We both know you've already stayed longer than you should have. I don't want you getting caught because of me."
She wrapped him in a sudden, affectionate embrace. Davian returned it and they
stood like that for several seconds, neither wanting to be the first one to let go.
Eventually there was a polite cough from Ishelle, and Davian and Asha reluctantly separated.
Asha gave him a final parting smile, and was about to turn away when she hesitated.
“Wait. There's one more thing.” She reached into a pocket in her dress, then drew out something that glittered in the flickering torchlight. She grabbed Davian’s hand and pressed the object into his palm. “They're eventually going to take this away from me if I hang onto it. Just... keep it for me.” It might have been Davian's imagination, but he thought her eyes were glistening. “You can give it back to me when we see each other next.”
She gave him another tight, brief hug, then spun and walked off before he could say anything.
He opened his hand slowly.
The ring was silver, three bands twisted together in a distinctive pattern. Davian stared at it, dazed.
The last time he’d seen this ring, Malshash had been destroying it in Deilannis.
He hesitated for a long moment.
Then he slipped the ring onto his finger, shaking his head slightly at the familiar weight. Taking a deep breath, he nodded to Ishelle and they made their way towards the cluster of red-cloaked Gifted.
It was time to move on.
- Epilogue -
Asha leaned against the wall of the Great Hall, tired eyes squinting against the light as the first rays of dawn found their way through a nearby window.
She stared around dully at the gathered nobility, everyone talking in hushed tones as the aftermath of the battle continued to be assessed. Tol Athian's input into the proceedings hadn't been needed for a while now; she knew she should go back to her rooms, try and sleep, but her grief was still too sharp. It had only been a few hours since the Andarran victory, yet the elation of that moment had already worn off, rapidly replaced by the heavy knowledge of what had been lost.
She had only just returned from identifying Michal's body. Her mentor had evidently been slain in the chaotic flight from the Shields to the palace; her only comfort was that it had been a single blow, dealt from behind and straight through the chest. He had probably never even felt the blade go in.
An hour before Michal, Kol's body had been moved under her watchful gaze and placed into the heartrendingly long line of those who needed burial. It had been hard to see her friend's lifeless form again - and even harder to see it alone. Erran and Fessi had been true to their word; Asha had visited their rooms but they were gone, leaving no sign that they had ever been in Ilin Illan. Davian had left hours ago. Wirr was still busy trying to deal with an angry and confused Administration, and probably would be for days to come.
She knew she'd done the right thing by staying, knew that this was where she needed to be. It didn't make it feel any less lonely.
Even as she had the thought, though, she summoned a small smile as a weary-looking Wirr hurried towards her.
"Representative Chaedris." He stopped in front of her, and though he smiled back, she could see the worry in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked him quietly, heart sinking even lower. She wasn't sure she could handle more bad news. Not now.
Wirr glanced around, checking that there was nobody nearby to overhear. "Administration have asked to go through my father's office. They phrased it as a courtesy to me, of course - to ease my workload - but they've started to realise that he must have known something about my being Gifted. They're suspicious, and I couldn't refuse them without looking like I had something to hide."
Asha paled. "I don't know if there's anything in there, but...."
"I know." Wirr clasped Asha's hands in his; he made the gesture seem like a condolence, but Asha felt the hard, uneven iron of a key slip into her palm. "I can hold them off for maybe an hour. Make sure you're done by then."
Asha nodded, and Wirr turned to go. Then he hesitated.
"Be careful, Ash. Try to stay out of sight if you can," he said in a low voice. "I'm trying to keep things in Administration under control, but there's more than a little hysteria about the Shadows right now. It's not official policy, but if an Administrator sees you and they don't know who you are, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to detain you. Especially since you're an obvious target at the moment."
Asha gave a short, rueful nod. Most of the Shadows had melted away, unnoticed, within the first hour of the victory - along with their Vessels. By the time it had been brought to anyone's attention, Asha was one of only a handful of Shadows left in the city.
She watched Wirr hurry away, then took a deep breath, moving out into a deserted corridor and heading for her rooms. Once there she quickly retrieved the Veil she'd hidden earlier, slipping it onto her wrist and watching pensively as it moulded to her skin. Everything shimmered for a moment, and when she moved over to look in the mirror, only an empty room stared back at her.
She nodded in satisfaction and then left again. The palace hallways were still mostly empty, and she had no trouble avoiding collisions with the few people she came across. Once at Elocien's office she checked the passageway was clear in both directions, then used the key Wirr had given her, slipping inside and locking the door behind her.
She just stood there for a moment, looking around the room sadly. It felt... odd, to be in here without the reassuring presence of the duke. Her stomach twisted as she thought of him - wondered again how many of her conversations had been with him, and how many with Erran. Or if there was ultimately any difference.
She sighed, then moved over to Elocien's desk, methodically checking through his drawers and scanning each piece of paper on his desk. There didn't appear to be anything incriminating, much to her relief. It seemed that Elocien - or Erran - had thought to be careful, even in here.
Ten minutes had passed when a key turned in the lock.
Asha's heart leapt to her throat and she quietly shut the drawer she'd been searching, moving back into the corner of the room. Wirr had said an hour, but it couldn't have been more than half of that since they'd spoken.
She gave a silent sigh of relief as the door swung open to reveal Laiman Kardai standing in the hallway. The king's advisor had known about the Augurs, was trustworthy. Was probably there for the same reasons as her, in fact.
She was just about to remove her Veil when someone called Laiman's name. Laiman's head turned, and he smiled as another man came into view.
"Taeris!" Laiman glanced around to check that no-one else was in the vicinity, then beckoned the heavily scarred man inside. “They decided not to keep you locked away, I see,” he said with some amusement.
Asha studied the newcomer's crisscrossed features as he entered. This was clearly Taeris Sarr - the man Davian said had orchestrated the attack on him three years ago. She frowned as she watched Laiman's and Taeris' body language. The two men appeared relaxed around one other, like old acquaintances.
Taeris smiled back, though his eyes were tired. “They're still not entirely happy that I deceived them with the Travel Stones, broke into the Tol, or showed them up as fools. Particularly the latter. But Caeden’s little performance has changed a few minds, convinced them that there might at least be some merit to what I've been saying.” He sank into a nearby chair. “Enough for a reprieve from my cell, anyway.”
There was silence for a few moments as Laiman walked over to the desk, rifling through papers just as Asha had been doing. Asha stretched her muscles cautiously, unsure now whether to reveal herself.
"I hear the king has recovered," said Taeris.
"He has," said Laiman absently as he scanned a document, though his tone held a note of reservation.
"You don't sound happy."
Laiman grimaced, looking up from what he was reading. "He remembers very little from the past two months."
Taeris frowned. "Control, then," he concluded. "We're fortunate they didn't try to take things further."
"That's what has me worried." Laiman resumed his search. "I
f the Blind were really Controlling him, it doesn't makes sense. I mean, I can see why they wouldn't want him changing the Tenets. But they could have done so much more damage." He scratched his head. "And the timing of his being released, too - straight after the Tenets were changed...."
Taeris shrugged. "Maybe the Blind realised what had happened, and decided he wasn't worth the effort any more?"
Laiman shook his head in frustration. "I thought that too at first, but he's the king. He could have ordered the surrender - fates knows what would have happened, exactly, but I guarantee it wouldn't have been pleasant." He hesitated. "Just think, for a moment. Given the way things turned out. Who benefited most from having the king act the way he did?"
"Aside from the Blind?" Taeris tapped his fingers together as he considered. "Well, the king looks a fool now, stubborn for not changing the Tenets. There's no proof he was Controlled, and most people don't even believe that power exists, so it's not exactly something the palace can claim. So I suppose...." He trailed off, staring at Laiman in mild disbelief. "Us? The Gifted?"
"Tol Shen, to be more precise," said Laiman, opening another drawer. "It's no secret that Athian decided to hide in the Tol until the Tenets were changed. Shen, on the other hand, had people on the Shields healing the wounded from the start." He paused, rubbing his forehead. "And the only memories the king has that are recent, are of when Karaliene was away. When I insisted that Lothlar and some of his people accompany her, despite his protests."
Asha stared at the king's advisor as he flicked through more papers, stunned that he would even hint at such an accusation. Taeris' sceptical expression, however, wavered. "You think they have an Augur?"
"No. If it was an Augur, the distance wouldn't have mattered - and Kevran wouldn't have had any physical symptoms, either. But we both know there are Vessels out there that can simulate Control, and it's my belief that Lothlar has one."
Taeris was silent for a moment, looking troubled at the thought. "Even if he does, there still has to be an Augur involved for your theory to make any sense," he pointed out. "If this all started two months ago, then it was well before the invasion - which means that Shen knew about the attack before it started. And power-hungry though they can be, they won't have aligned themselves with the likes of the Blind. Fates, if they really did plan this, they'd have needed an Augur to tell them ahead of time that we won!"
The Shadow Of What Was Lost (Book 1) Page 70
