Chapter 62

“Oh great,” Wallace huffed, raising his hands in frustration. “So, when are we going to bring your two babies into this mess!?”

Aris chuckled and squeezed his wife’s hand. She had taken the hike up the mountainside with her husband today. He knew for a fact that Wallace had seen them making their way up the mountain together, but he loved being dramatic, so he had saved up his frustration for when the duo arrived.

“I’m sorry Van. I tried. I really tried,” he said. “But these idiots just keep bringing in more and more people. Next thing you know, they’ll be asking me to train the rest of their guard forces!”

“About that,” Aris said. “I couldn’t keep the truth from Corrine any longer. I realized I was being a coward by avoiding her. I wasn’t trying to keep her safe, but myself. I told her last night, and we thought that it might be a good idea. In fact we’re sure of it.”

The brushes parted, and Kestrel, who’d met up with Sephira on his trek up the mountain, stepped through with Corrine’s raven haired daughter in tow. Did the two even realize they were holding hands?

“What would be a good idea?” Sephira asked him before her eyes fell on her mother. Her eyebrows shot up at the sight. “What’re you doing here?”

“I know everything,” Corrine said.

What was with that look in her eyes? When she looked at Sephira it was like she was seeing her for the first time, but they had spent practically Sephira’s entire life together. What had changed?

She had obviously learned of Memory Magics. Sephira had caught the tail end of her uncle Aris’ speech, she knew that Corrine would dig the truth out of him about magic as soon as they had a second alone…But that wasn’t it.

What she was seeing was something else. It was something…different. But what?

It felt motherly. That’s what it was. It felt like the look that she saw in Corrine and Aris’ eyes when the looked at the twins. It was the look of a mother.

What did it mean?

Corrine’s eyes started to water. She stepped up to Sephira and nearly squeezed the life out of her with a fierce hug that enveloped her. Tears wet Sephira’s grey top. Corrine squeezed again. Sephira felt as if her ribs might pop under her aunt’s fierce embrace.

What could have brought that along?

“I’m so sorry,” Corrine whispered in her ear as she pulled away. “So so sorry.”

What was going on? What had happened?

Corrine opened her mouth to speak but Aris silenced her. “We’ll tell her after we finish. We need to plan first. We need to decide on a course of action and then we can tell Sephira everything,” he said.

She nodded a ‘yes’ in response and returned to her husband’s side. She unconsciously mirrored him as habit forced him to fall into the military ‘at ease’ stance that had been drilled into him since he was a young recruit.

Wallace tried to look fierce as he redirected their attention, but he failed completely and wiped away the beginnings of a tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. “Alright. That’s enough. Now we’ll get down to our lesson in magic, and then we’ll discuss whatever it is that drove you to bring your Miss into our muddied world,” he said to Aris.

“I…” Corrine started, but halted. She would save her questions for later.

She had many.

Wallace was silent as he watched her. When she stopped herself he nodded. “Good. Now let’s begin,” he said.

*****

The magic lessons finished earlier than usual. Kestrel watched, feeling like an outsider as Aris gathered his wife and niece together. He had naturally stepped towards them, intent on hearing what was being said, but a glance from Aris let him know this was family only, so he stood beside Wallace and watched as the family conversed.

They spoke in hushed tones and after a strained whisper, he saw Sephira’s knees give out. What could have they possibly said? What was happening?

“Do you know what’s happening?” he asked the gruff grayed soldier. “What’s going on?”

“Probably about that vision I had that started all of this,” Wallace replied cryptically.

“What do you mean? What vision?”

“That’s not my place to tell you boy. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask them yourself. You know I don’t share other people’s secrets. That’s not what us men do.”

Kestrel nodded. He respected the older man, but it burned at him, what could they be saying?

He watched as Sophia regained her footing and practically dove into Corrine, her eyes were red with tears and snot bubbled from her nose. Kestrel could only guess at what was happening, but whatever it was, it was beautiful.

Broken, intimate, and beautiful.

Would he ever have a family like that? Would he ever be reunited with Cillia? What would her return look like? Would it be the messy but happy affair that he saw unfolding before him or would it be a dark broken thing, the little girl too beaten and bitter by his abandonment of her when she needed him most?

Would he be able to rescue her at all?

Had she been taken and groomed into a life of pain and torture like the Inquisitors? Kestrel could only pray that God hadn’t cursed her with Memory Magic. He was terrified what he might find, if he found her at all, if she had been gifted like him. What could he do for her? Was there any time left for Cillia at all?

*****

The sun had finished it ascent by the time they finished. Aris would usually be long gone by now, but he had sent a messenger to the Imperial keep informing them that he would be taking the day to examine the guard forces and make sure they were being properly run in light of the disaster that had recently befallen the city.

It wasn’t a lie either. That was one of the first things that he had discussed with Corrine during their long conversation the previous night. He would go there, to his men and tell them the truth. He would try to enlist as many as he could in his crusade against Evrain.

He didn’t know why, but that quick glimpse he’d had into the Emperor’s past had convinced him that the need to tear him down was urgent. He knew that the fires were just the start of whatever that monster had planned. Soon there would be violence in the streets and unrest everywhere.

Possibly civil war.

He still didn’t know how it could possibly benefit Emperor Evrain, but he knew that he was feeding the fires of the unrest. He would raze Vealand and Fiell would fall while Evrain sat and reveled in its destruction.

The time for subtlety was gone. Lines were being drawn. He would take those who were dispossessed and raise them into a fighting force. He would bring them in, take their anger and fear, take their confusion and weaponize it.

He would turn them against their false savior.

End of part III