James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

Then he frowned. Something Karaliene had said….

“What did you hear about the school?" He shook his head. "All things considered, I’d have thought they’d want to keep our running away fairly quiet.”

“Running away?” repeated Karaliene, nonplussed. “Torin….” She hesitated. A range of emotions flashed across her face, from confusion to understanding to pity. “Oh, Tor. You haven’t heard. Something terrible happened. Someone….” She trailed off, suddenly flustered. She stepped closer, giving his arm a comforting squeeze. “The night you left, someone, or something, attacked. Everyone who was still there… they died.”

Wirr stared at Karaliene. “That’s a poor joke, Kara.”

Karaliene just looked at him sadly.

His body recognised the truth before his mind could; his knees went weak and he slumped into a nearby chair, hands suddenly shaking. “All of them?”

Karaliene nodded. “I’m so sorry, Tor. There were no survivors.”

The next few minutes passed in a blur. At first he was simply dazed, unable to comprehend the idea that everyone he had known for the last few years was dead. Once the reality set in, though, he felt only emptiness inside. It had surely been his fault. Whoever had attacked had been looking for him. It was his fault .

There were no tears, for which he was grateful; a disconnected part of his mind thought he would have been embarrassed to cry in front of his cousin. At one point an Andarran guard opened the door to fetch the princess for some event or other, but Karaliene waved him away silently. Eventually Wirr’s initial dizziness at the news passed and he took some deep breaths, focusing again on the present.

They sat in silence for a little while, then Karaliene said gently, “We assumed either you’d escaped and were in hiding, or had been taken. But if you didn’t know - why leave?”

"It was important. We heard a rumour that the Boundary was weakening, maybe about to collapse. The sig’nari were gathering Augurs, and my friend was… he had a way to find them. He needed my help, and I needed to find out how much of it was true. And to make sure the sig’nari weren’t planning some kind of rebellion. It… seemed like the right choice at the time." The words came out heavily. He gave a hollow laugh when he saw the expression on Karaliene’s face. "Don’t worry - they’re not. Though I think the Boundary side of it might be true. It’s… a long story."

"I have time."

Wirr hesitated, taking a deep breath. "I can explain, but first I need your word - you won’t act on anything I tell you, and what I say doesn’t go beyond this room. There are some things you’re not going to like. Some things I’m not sure I like, to be honest."

Karaliene made a face, but nodded.

Wirr told her the whole story, leaving nothing out. A part of him wondered at the wisdom of it, but it all seemed so insignificant in light of the news. Even as he spoke, names and faces flashed through his head. Asha. Elder Jarras, Elder Olin, Alita. Talean. Absently he wondered if he were lucky to have left with Davian when he did, and then immediately hated himself for the thought. With a flood of nausea, he realised he would have to be the one to tell his friend the news.

Karaliene listened to his story in silence, her expression changing only once – when he admitted to helping rescue Caeden from the Desrielite soldiers. Wirr saw the dismay on her face, and she opened her mouth to interject, but quickly closed it again to let him continue. He was grateful for that. If he’d had to stop, he didn’t know if he could have started again.

He finished, and Karaliene watched him for a few moments before speaking.

“Tor,” she said softly. “What have you done?”

Wirr tensed. “Don’t discount what Taeris says, Karaliene. I don’t know if he’s right, but clearly something is going on. If there’s some threat waiting for us beyond the Boundary, we need to be prepared. And getting Caeden back to Andarra, restoring his memories – it’s the only way I can think of to find out more.”

Karaliene held up her hand. “Taeris Sarr is a murderer, Torin. Administration were within their mandate to cover up his escape, but now I know… I should be taking him back to Andarra to complete his sentence, not helping him.”

Wirr frowned. "I told you there would be things you didn’t like. You haven’t even spoken to him.” He crossed his arms. “I was dubious at first too, but he killed those men to save Davian’s life.”

Karaliene shook her head. “I was at his trial, Tor. He didn’t just kill them. He mutilated them. Carved marks into their faces while they were still alive. And he never revealed how he got around the First Tenet.”

“Taeris tells a different story. And he explained about the First Tenet.”

“Tell that to the twenty or so who heard the screams of the men he was killing, some from several streets away.” Karaliene looked troubled. “The evidence was overwhelming… your father passed his sentence, you know.”

“I know.” Wirr hesitated. He also knew that Davian remembered nothing of that day, or at least had forced the memories so far into the recesses of his mind that they were no longer easily accessed. And if Taeris had lied, he apparently could have hidden it from Davian’s ability.

What Karaliene said was possible, he supposed.

Still, he had met Taeris. He was capable of violence, certainly - but was he the kind of man to delight in it? Wirr thought not.

“So you’re telling me that there have been no reports from the north of anything unusual.” Wirr gave her a querying look.

Karaliene scowled. “There are always reports from the north, Torin! Every year they come in. Hoaxes played by children who were weaned on stories of Talan Gol. The overactive imaginations of farmers who weren’t vigilant enough to protect their livestock from wolves.”

“And the scale he showed us?”

Karaliene snorted. “It could be anything. He could have made it himself! No-one has seen a dar’gaithin for literally thousands of years.” She leaned forward. “Think, Tor. Just think. He’s a murderer. He is asking for political asylum for another man wanted for the same crime – a man who may be a conspirator in what happened to your school, for all you know! Is this the kind of man a prince of the realm should be travelling with?”

Wirr scowled. “Davian verified Caeden’s story about having lost his memory.”

“The same Davian who set you on this journey to begin with.” She held up her hand as he began to protest. “I believe you when you say he had no part in what happened. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my word - if you tell me he can be trusted, I won’t tell anyone he’s an Augur. But his ability has a very serious flaw if he is so easily fooled. I for one would not trust it implicitly.” She paused. “And even if this Caeden truly has lost his memory, it does not make him innocent, either.”

Wirr ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He remembered this Karaliene. Good at arguing, not so good at listening. “So you’ll not help us?”

There was silence as the two glared at each other, then Karaliene crossed her arms, coming to a decision. “I can arrange for you and your friend to return with us. It will be tricky – the Gil’shar know how many Gifted came with us. You’ll have to act like just another Gifted; the Desrielites screen everyone at the border, and the entire country will know within days if Prince Torin sets off a Finder.”

She pursed her lips. “This other man, Caeden, is a different matter. His description is everywhere; frankly I’m surprised you made it this far without being discovered. But he’ll be recognised soon enough. Representative Lothlar was right, you know. If we give him asylum, it could very well mean war.” She shrugged. “Handing him over might just offset the fallout of taking you with us, though.”