At last, Lord Drayston stood on the platform where he and his officers had been sitting. He stared at the new name on the plaque for a long time.
“Words …” He cleared this throat. “Words fall utterly short. How can words possibly contain the deeds of a man who saved so many?” The Lord turned his eyes on Sibyl. “And by all accounts, a man who always did what was right, no matter what it cost him.”
Sibyl bowed her face into her hands and wept, unashamed at letting all see her grief. Halli put an arm around her and the taller woman leaned in for support. Kellian made no attempt to hide his tears either.
“Many of us who stand here today are a testament to that,” Drayston continued. “It is a terrible injustice that we cannot lay him to rest with the other brave souls who have given their lives in service to the people under our protection. But as long as the walls of Drayston stand, his name will adorn them.
“Malthius Reynolds never feared to fight for what he believed. In fact, if he ever feared anything, it was inaction. I do believe he’s passed this trait on to several young friends.” Drayston’s gaze settled on Kellian and then Tetra. A sad smile graced his lips. The young man held the symbol of Emascodeus that Reynolds had woven for him. “I remember the day he brought you back, Tetra. Healer Alma nearly had to pry you from his arms.” Alma sat on the platform behind Drayston, laughing to himself while wiping his eyes. “He believed in you, and with good reason. He believed so strongly that, rather than condemning one of his men for abandoning his post, he saw it was the right thing to do and joined him.”
The lord’s gaze shifted back to Kellian. Unused to the attention, Kellian looked away. His eyes met Halli’s, and she smiled through her own tears. “Malthius Reynolds did more than stand up for that young soldier. He noted the courage it took to throw away a military career and risk being labeled a deserter, a transgression punishable by death. He took responsibility for the soldier’s actions and expressed his shame that someone else had the courage to do what he did not. And today we see their success has ensured that Jaegen will live on not only in memory, but in the lives of the children they saved.”
Lord Drayston looked back at his officers before addressing the courtyard again. “Tonight we will not mourn. Instead, we will celebrate the lives of those who sacrificed everything to return these children from the darkness … especially that of Malthius Reynolds.”
Kellian joined with hundreds of others as they cheered.
***
Chapter Sixty
Malec Haldenfeld
“Are you going to leave now?” Pavil asked.
Malec aimed to punch his shoulder, but the other boy ducked away and popped up on the other side of Sibyl. The three of them walked the halls of Castle Drayston after the memorial ceremony. The boys had fallen in step with Sibyl as she had slipped away from the remainder of the ceremony, and she’d neither paid them much attention nor shooed them off.
Malec studied her from the corner of his eyes, trying to reconcile this woman, all clean and prettified, with the rough-and-tumble bandit leader who’d faced down the Admired rebels. He had yet to figure out which version of her he preferred. Or how they fit together into the one person she actually was.
“I don’t really know what I’ll be doing,” Sibyl said. “Life’s a bit of a mystery right now.”
Malec frowned up at her, not having expected such a straightforward answer. What did it say about her mindset? “Will you go back to the Admired?” he asked.
She shook her head. “They don’t need me anymore.” Her gloomy expression darkened further. “Nobody really needs me.”
“We do,” Pavil cried.
Malec almost lunged and drove his friend to the ground, but that’d mean shoving Sibyl aside, and he didn’t feel right possibly mussing her dress or hair. So he settled for a glare, which Pavil remained blissfully ignorant of.
A faint smile tweaked Sibyl’s lips. “And why’s that?”
Pavil tapped off reasons on his fingers. “You’re smart. You’re strong. You make people listen to you. And if we hadn’t found you in the Rocmire, we probably wouldn’t have made it out alive. I’m not sure what we’d do without you.”
“You’d live and grow,” she said. “You should never get too reliant on any one person. Life has a way of separating you from those you want the most when you need them most.” Her pace slowed as she turned a corner into a long hall lined with sculptures and tapestries. “You should feel blessed your friends are all beside you still.”
“We do,” Malec said. “It’s a miracle from the Aspects themselves.”
She looked at him in askance. “Don’t rely too much on miracles, either.”
“What should we rely on?” Pavil asked.
“Yourselves. That’s all you can count on in the long run.”
Pavil pouted. “I don’t do so well by myself.”
“We relied an awful lot on others to get back here,” Malec said. “Like you.”
“True.” She grimaced. “But I almost failed you. I almost got you killed several times because of my own aims. I also ignored you and discounted your stories of others in need because I had my own agenda.”
“But we forgive you. And almost is an important word. Almost,” Malec said. “But you didn’t actually get us killed.”
“But I could have.”
“But you didn’t,” he repeated. “Isn’t that what matters most?”
She paused and gazed at a tapestry depicting an army assaulting a fiery mountain. Then she turned and studied them. “What sort of men are you going to grow up to be?”
Malec exchanged confused looks with Pavil, not sure where to take this sudden shift in the conversation.
“Probably a little taller,” Pavil said.
Sibyl laughed, drawing a smile from both of them. It felt good to hear her mirth, unburdened by recent events.
“What sort of men should we be?” Malec asked.
“Ask a hundred people that, and you’ll get a hundred different answers.” She crouched, the dress bunching around her waist as she took both their hands. “But if you ever wonder, if you ever feel lost and don’t know who you’re supposed to be … think of Malthius.”
“Who?” Pavil asked.
“The major,” Malec whispered. “The man we just honored.”
“Oh.”
“Men like Malthius are rare,” Sibyl said. “They inspire you. They infuriate you. They give everything and expect nothing back. You love them. You hate them. You’ll do anything for them because you know they’d do the same for you.”
She rose and headed down the hall, still holding their hands. “Try to become men like that. They’re the sort who matter most, in the end.”
***
Chapter Sixty-one
Tetra Bicks
Tetra found Lord Major Illamer in Drayston’s main dining hall, switching between sipping from a flagon of wine and slicing up a roasted quail. He sat across the table and waited until the man glanced up from his meal.
“You.”
Tetra inclined his head. “Lord Major.”
“You are an audacious one, aren’t you, inviting yourself to join a lord. I could have you flogged just for sitting in my presence without my leave,” Illamer threatened. “What do you want? I’m busy.”
“You weren’t at the ceremony.”
Illamer sucked at a greasy finger. “Your point being?”
“Major Reynolds deserved your respects. So did all the others who died.” Tetra declined to emphasize how many of the dead had occurred under Illamer’s charge.
“If I spent time blathering about everyone who died, I’d never have any opportunity to actually serve the kingdom.” The Lord Major leveled a bored look at Tetra. “The dead don’t concern me. Only the living matter. Only those of us who survive make a difference.”
“That’s not true,” Tetra said.
“That’s not true, my lord.” The man leaned back and waved a gristly bone. “Well then. Gra
ce me with your years of wisdom.”
“It’s not wisdom,” Tetra said. “It’s just a fact. Everyone who dies in the king’s service should be honored. Even those who die help others live. That should be the most important sacrifice of all.”
“Those who die are the weak ones. They aren’t fit to survive and so are weeded out by circumstance. Pondering their existence is a waste of time and they don’t deserve our attention any longer.”
“So who will care when you die?”
The Lord Major’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat, boy?”
Tetra leaned in, determined to let this coward know he’d made an enemy of Tetra Bicks. “Only if you’re afraid of me.”
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, Tetra glaring. Illamer’s chair rocked as he laughed. “You ought to be a jester in the King’s own court.”
“Why’d you really attempt to arrest us?” Tetra asked. “Were you just trying to make trouble for my uncle?”
“Your uncle is no matter to me, nor should you give him any real regard. You think he’ll protect you?” Illamer flicked a gob of fat aside. “Even with his reputation, you wouldn’t last a week in the capital. Here’s the truth of the matter: you are nothing and never will be anything, no matter what you’ve accomplished here. You are one small pawn in a far larger game that you’ll ever understand.”
Tetra sighed. “You’re a very sad man.”
“I’m one of the most influential men in the kingdom,” Illamer said. “What’s sad is your inability to recognize this and your simpleton attempts to bully me. Truly, they are pitiful, but they will cost you.”
“Cost me what?”
“Everything you value most.” He shot a sly look Tetra’s way. “Do you love your sister, Tetra Bicks? Do you value your friends? You will lose them, as surely as you lost everyone in your village.”
Tetra thrust up from his seat. “Don’t you dare threaten them.”
“See?” Illamer smirked. “I ask minor questions and you tell me everything I could possibly want to know. You are already a carcass in my mind, ready to be flayed. So let me be frank.” The Lord Major snapped a bone in half and speared a shard at Tetra. “Try to cause trouble for me … spread any malicious rumors … attempt to defy me in public whenever we next meet … and I swear on the Aspects, boy, all you love and hold dear will be stripped from you before you even realize they’re gone. Behave, do as you’re told, and you might actually live long enough to see a few more funerals before attending your own.” He picked his teeth with the broken bone. “Do we have an understanding?”
Tetra glowered. “Only a coward threatens children.”
“As your blacksmith friend is fond of saying, you’re not a child anymore, are you?” Illamer grinned. “Welcome to the world of men. We’ll see how long you last in it.”
***
Chapter Sixty-two
Halli Bicks
Halli shuddered as she descended into the castle dungeons. The jailor, a heavyset man in dire need of a shave, lit the way with his torch. At one junction, he paused and glanced back at her.
“Y’sure you want to see the beast?”
“Yes,” she said. “And he’s not a beast. They aren’t animals.”
He shrugged. “Suit yerself. Plenty o’ those who’d argue wit’ yah, though.”
He guided her down another hall to where the orocs had been contained. A dozen guardsmen remained stationed there, rotating shifts to keep the prisoners dampened. When she asked for the most recent captive, the jailor pointed her to the cell the furthest down the way, in the deepest shadows.
“Thank you,” she said. “A bit of privacy, please?”
Frowning, he left her and joined the other men, who made jokes about the orocs’ stink and stature. Gnarrl sat in the center of his own cell, long limbs woven in a meditative pose. Iron bars sealed the door, though Halli knew he could’ve bent them aside with his natural strength.
His eyes opened as she neared the entrance, and he rumbled in Rocmirian.
“You should not have come.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“You are of them. You are not of us. To be seen as part of us is to endanger yourself. They hate us. Do not let them hate you.”
She drew her shawl tighter. “I don’t care. We’re all the same, really.”
His brow knotted. “How are we the same?”
“We’re all afraid of what we don’t know. You feared us before you knew us, and we feared you because we didn’t know why you attacked. If that keeps going, we’ll all be reduced to nothing but fear and violence.”
Gnarrl looked aside. “You show the wisdom of ancients, Geist Walker.”
Halli huffed a laugh. “Hardly.” She sagged. “The truth is, I’ve … I did something terrible.”
His face scrunched. “Terrible?”
“When you attacked Jaegen, there were times your stronger Geists used a certain technique. Where you tore soul from body.”
Gnarrl bowed his head. “Yes.”
“I did this, too, I think. I stopped myself, but it still happened.”
His gaze snapped back up. “True?”
She wrapped arms around herself. “Yes. When the ifrahn attacked us, one of our soldiers almost died from fighting them. He lay there, helpless, while an ifrahn came to finish him off. I touched its body and … and I stopped myself. At least, I thought I did. But … I think I took its spirit. I felt its agony, its terror, as I split it from its flesh.”
Gnarrl nodded. “You are Geist Walker. Your strength grows as you do.”
Halli gripped the bars of his cage. “My people view this as taboo. Obscene. A few know what I did, I think, but they haven’t said anything.”
He plucked at the leaves around his waist. “You feel … guilty?”
“Yes.”
“But you saved a life.”
“I … yes, I did. But only by taking another. I’m supposed to be a healer, not a murderer.”
The oroc cupped a hand. “What is water?”
Halli frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“What is water? What does it do?”
She chewed her lower lip. “It keeps us from being thirsty. It cleans us. It helps prepare some foods. Why?”
“Water can drown,” he said. “Water can flood and destroy. Water is water. Skills are skills. Technique is technique. Many can do what you did. What matters is not the how or the what, it is the why. When we attacked your village, we used the same skills to destroy. We were wrong. When you used the same skills, you did so to let one live. You were right.”
“But I know how to do it now,” she said. “What if I do it again? What if I do it to someone who doesn’t deserve it? How can I live with this sort of power?”
“Your roots are deep. Your sap is thick. You are not toppled so easily. You will stand tall and firm.”
Halli leaned her forehead against a bar. “Thank you. I’ll try to believe that.” Her hands quivered, but the iron rods didn’t budge. “I wish I could get you out of here.”
“No.”
She stepped back. “Why not? Why are you so willing to let them abuse you like this? Don’t you know they could torture you? Kill you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why let them?”
He shifted in place. “When one digs a hole in the earth, there are two choices. Fill it back in, or let it remain for others to fall into. I choose to replace what has been taken.”
“And you think letting them punish you will make amends?”
“Yes.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
He shrugged. “Then I will at least have tried. I cannot do more.”
She stayed silent for a while, hearing the guards’ cackles and insults. “We’re leaving soon.”
“I know. I feel the earth tremble beneath hoof and wheel.”
“I may not ever see you again.”
He met her gaze. “We will meet beyond. All roots run to the same tree.”
She smiled. “I’d like to believe that.” Then her expression dipped. “Are you hopeful giving yourself up will make a difference?”
He rose and came over to clasp her hand through the bars. “All actions make a difference. Water is water. Only we can determine which way it flows.”
***
Chapter Sixty-three
Tetra Bicks
“Is this really necessary?” Sven asked.
“Healer Alma saved my life,” Tetra said, stroking Kafa’s head as the hound lounged beside him. “If he says we all need to be checked over, then I’d listen to him.”
“But we’re all fine,” Laney said. “Halli got us all in good health.”
Alma slipped into the room, wiping hands on a white cloth. “Sometimes there are illnesses or injuries that hide deep within the body and spirit,” He scanned the seven of them, sitting around the infirmary ward. “And while your friend is a remarkably strong Geist, she remains inexperienced in detecting possible ailments that might lurk to affect you later on. Now, let me take a look at you.”
Tetra watched as Alma went to each youth in turn and laid hands on them. Everyone except Halli shivered a little under his touch. When it came to him, Tetra clenched his teeth and fought against the impulse, letting the spirit probe ripple through and past him. At last, Alma stepped back and inspected them with a frown. The seven shifted under his gaze, gaining worried looks of their own.
Then Alma shook himself and smiled. “Well, you’re all the image of health, I must admit.” He bowed to Halli. “Excellent technique, keeping them as hale as you have. Though always ensure you take in enough nourishment afterwards. Your skill reduces your body even if you don’t realize it at the time, and even the strongest healer isn’t any good if she can’t keep herself intact.”
She smiled thinly and murmured assent.
“So we can go?” Sven asked.
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