Akna rubbed her eyes, and the tears gathering there dripped out and smudged the ink on the paper in front of her. With a groan, she pushed the paper aside, grabbed a fresh sheet, and prepared to start yet again. It was the roster for tomorrow. Under normal circumstances, she hated this part of the job: bookkeeping. But right now…?

Being in charge of palace security was fine, even if the people under her command were less than competent. Being Anita’s bodyguard and making certain Anita remained safe was an honour. But Akna hated all the paperwork she had to fill out. Was it really necessary to record everything she did? In Ninifin...well, there was paperwork in Ninifin as well, but not nearly as much. At least, being head of the Youth Guard had not required much paperwork. Maybe head of the Queen’s Guard required more, but she doubted it was as much as she had to do here.

She should be with Meleng right now, and that was where she would be if it weren’t for the fact Anita was going down to the harbour in the morning to see the destruction and to speak to the people. So Akna had to plan security—not just for Anita, but also for what would be left here at the palace. Part of her wanted to have every available guard watching Anita, but that would leave the palace undefended, and who knew what could happen then? Besides, if those demon things attacked again, Akna doubted a thousand guards would make a difference. She had tried to suggest Anita remain at the palace, but Anita had insisted, saying that to hide now would just turn the people against her.

Akna sighed. Anita was probably right about that.

So she was stuck writing a roster—not a difficult task, except her tears kept ruining it.

Gods, it wasn’t fair. Meleng didn’t deserve what had happened to him. Akna had known numerous people who had lost fingers, hands, and limbs in combat. It was a cost of being a warrior. But Meleng was different. She knew how much he depended on his hands for his magic and to lose one… Gods, she could barely imagine. She had seen how having temporarily broken fingers had affected Felitïa, and Meleng’s injury wasn’t temporary.

She wiped more tears from her eyes before they could smudge the paper again. Then she finished the roster as quickly as she could so more tears didn’t have enough time to form and fall on it. She needed to talk to Jorvan and Feviona to make sure one of them was present with Anita tomorrow, but she was waiting to let them have time with Meleng. They deserved that.

She slid the roster away from her, leaned over, and let the tears flow. She should be with Meleng, and she had gone to see him already, but she hadn’t been able to stay long.

She straightened up at the sound of one of the doors opening and wiped away her tears.

It was Sinitïa, who strode across the room without acknowledging Akna.

“Sinitïa?” Akna called.

The young princess paused and looked back, the makeup on her face marred by tears. “Yes?”

“How’s Meleng?”

“Sleeping. He wants to be alone right now.”And with that, Sinitïa continued on her way, out the door on the other side of the library.

Akna stared at the closed door for a moment. That was odd. Something was off. The terseness was unusual for Sinitïa, but could easily be explained by grief. No, it was something about her stance and appearance. Apart from her tear-stricken face, her appearance was immaculate: her hair tied up in a bun and adorned with red and blue flowers. Daisies? Roses? Akna really didn’t know the local flowers well. But that wasn’t it either. Sinitïa had also been wearing a yellow gown in the Arnorin style with low bodice and wide skirts.

And the skirts didn’t fall uniformly because of the sword at Sinitïa’s left side.

Since when did Sinitïa wear a sword? Arnorin princesses were apparently trained in their use, but they did not usually wear one, and Akna had certainly never seen Sinitïa with one. So why did she have one now?

Oh gods.

Akna leapt to her feet, tore open the door, and ran after the princess.

“Sinitïa!”

Where had she gone?

Servants and guards pointed the way, and Akna soon caught up to her in a cubby just outside the door to Horaz Belone’s rooms.

“Sinitïa!”

“Go away.” Sinitïa didn’t even look back. She just marched straight up to the door, banged on it once with her fist, and reached for the handle.

“Sinitïa, don’t do this.”

Without response, Sinitïa opened the door and marched inside.

“Your Highness! This is an unexpected pleasure. How’s your young lad doing? I heard...your Highness?”

Akna rushed to the door.

Sinitïa was storming across the entry room, straight towards Godran Frellan, her sword drawn. Horaz was already rushing for her, and Akna did the same. They each grabbed one of her arms, Akna grabbing the sword arm by the wrist. Twisting it, she forced Sinitïa to drop the sword.

“No!” Sinitïa screamed. “It’s because of him Melly’s hurt!”

“What’s she going on about?” Horaz said.

Akna twisted Sinitïa’s arm back. “It’s all right. I’ve got her.” She took Sinitïa’s other arm from Horaz and pulled her back towards the door.

Sinitïa twisted and squirmed, screaming out, “I’ll kill him! I’ll fucking kill him!” She squirmed a bit more, then went limp, and sobbed.

“I’ll call the guards,” Horaz said.

“No,” Akna said. “I’ve got her. She’s just distraught and not thinking straight. I’ll talk to her. It’ll be fine. Close the door behind me. I’ll send a guard to collect the sword.”

As Akna dragged Sinitïa through the door, she looked over at Horaz, who was backed up against the wall, having knocked a painting off. Although he was in a cowering position, his eyes showed little fear, and his mouth was twisted in disgust.

Akna dragged Sinitïa over to a bench in the nearby cubby, and pushed her down onto it, then sat beside her. She then put her arms around Sinitïa and held her tight.

Sinitïa sobbed lightly for a while before looking up into Akna’s eyes. “You know why I have to kill him, right?”

“Godran isn’t the one who hurt Meleng,” Akna said. “The demon did.”

“Yeah, but the demons are here because of the Darkers.”

“We don’t know that.” Though it was almost certainly true.

“And he’s a Darker.”

“Yeah, but he’s not supposed to know we know that.”

Sinitïa stared at Akna a moment, then burst into tears again. “Oh gods, I’ve ruined everything haven’t I? I’m sorry. I’m so fucking stupid.”

Akna held her tight again. “It’s all right. He probably suspected already anyway.” In truth, she understood Sinitïa’s feelings. She’d love nothing more than to string up every Darker in the world for hurting Meleng. But some things had to remain dreams. For now.

“He’s hurting so much, Akna. So much.”

“I know.”

Sinitïa sniffled. “I don’t mean just from losing his arm. I mean even before that. In his head. I’m glad that you’ve been talking to him, but it isn’t working. He still wakes up in the night screaming. He still checks everything to find out if they’re illusions. I love him so much. So so much. And I know he loves me, but it’s not enough. What am I supposed to do?” She buried her head in Akna’s shoulder and sobbed some more.

“These sorts of things don’t just go away,” Akna said. “Believe me, I know. I still see Chicahua die when I close my eyes. And all the members of the Youth Guard who died under my command. They’ll be with me for life. And Meleng’s will be with him for his life.”

“Then what do I do?” Sinitïa wailed.

“Just be there for him when he needs you. That’s all you can do. All any of us can do. Me, you, Jorvan, Feviona, Felitïa. Just be there when he needs us.”

“But I want to make him better.”

“You are.”

“No, I’m not. I told you he still—”

“Yes, but think what he might be like if you weren’t there. He’d be worse, right?”

Sinitïa sat up and wiped her eyes, which just watered more in response. “I suppose.”

“It’s true.”

Sinitïa nodded, sniffling some more. “I guess so. Thank you for being his friend, and for helping him too.”

“I will always be here for him. Actually, Sinitïa, I…” She paused a moment. This was probably not the best time to bring this up, but she’d been putting it off.

“Yes?”

Akna looked away towards the window. “You know when I first met Meleng, I hoped to have a relationship with him like you do.”

“I know.”

Akna looked back at her. “And you don’t mind?”

“Why would I?”

Akna shrugged and chuckled. “I don’t know. Just you Arnorins often get jealous about these sorts of things.”

“That would be silly.” Sinitïa threw her arms around Akna and hugged her tightly. “You’re a good friend to him and he loves you very much. I would never hold that against you or him.”

Akna hugged her back. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I messed up things with Godran.”

“It’s fine. Like I said, he probably suspected we knew anyway. And maybe this will force things to happen. Come on. I’ll escort you back to your room.”

They stood up, and Akna hooked her arm around Sinitïa’s.

“I dropped my sword,” Sinitïa said.

“I’ll have it collected,” Akna said, and started leading Sinitïa away.

“Do you think Horaz will hate me now?”

“I have no idea. I think you frightened and confused him though. But you’ll have to talk to him yourself. I can’t help you with that.”

“That’s fine. I’ll talk to Anita and have her talk to him for me.”

“Yeah, you can do that, but you’ll probably have to talk to him yourself eventually.”

“I know, but Anita can help smooth things over first.”

Akna rolled her eyes. “I suppose.”

As they made their way from the cubby, Akna took a look back towards Horaz Belone’s chambers. Sinitïa might have had the wrong way of going about it, but she had one thing right. They were all constantly having to react to their enemies’ actions. It was time for reactions to end.

* * * * *

The halls of the servants’ wing were not brightly lit at this hour, only a few lamps spaced relatively far apart, especially compared to the candelabra and chandeliers of the rest of the palace. Akna didn’t come through this wing very often, but she’d been in it enough times now to know her way around reasonably well, so the dim light wasn’t a problem. In many ways, it was a boon.

She passed a pair of guards on patrol, who bowed to her briefly before continuing on their way, as did a night servant who hurried passed shortly after.

It wasn’t hard finding Godran Frellan’s quarters. As one of the more senior servants, he got a set of rooms to himself and his family. With his wife dead, it would be just him and his son, Lucas.

Stopping by a small window a short distance away, Akna looked out. There wasn’t much to see. It was practically pitch-black outside, the moon and stars hidden behind cloud cover. A few snowflakes landed on the window and slid down, but it was otherwise mostly impenetrable darkness beyond.

Zandrue wouldn’t like what Akna was planning to do, but Sinitïa’s actions had already ruined Zandrue’s plans. It was time to do something.

As she started to turn away from the window, a slight glint caught her attention and she looked back. Was that a shape moving outside? A black shadow against black darkness. It wasn’t easy to tell, but it looked wide. There was no clue what had caused the glint of light, but the shape was now standing mostly still. A part twitched though. A wing? Possibly.

The Isyar liked the cold, snowy weather, so it was possibly not that odd one of them might be out and about at this time. Whoever it was was on the taller side for an Isyar. Mikranasta was the tallest of the Isyar here, so it might be her. She was definitely weird enough to be out in the middle of the night.

Akna waved. Hopefully, whoever it was, Mikranasta or otherwise, didn’t find it weird that she was up at this time either.

Whoever it was must have seen her. She would be much more visible to the figure than it was to her. Unless the individual was looking the other way, but it didn’t seem that way to Akna. But as best she could tell, the figure didn’t wave back.

Almost certainly Mikranasta then, or maybe Hedromornasta. Jorvan or Feviona would have waved back.

With a shrug, Akna walked away from the window. As long as they didn’t try to stop her, it didn’t matter who it was.

She approached Godran’s door. Most servants didn’t get locks on their doors, but as a senior servant, Godran was one of the exceptions. Luckily, as head of security in the palace, Akna had a master key for every lock. She wasn’t supposed to use it in this way, but to hell with that.

She unlocked the door as quietly as she could manage and opened it just enough to slip through, trying to make sure as little of the light from the hall got inside. As dim as that light was, in the almost totally black room beyond, it would be like sunlight.

She gently closed the door, then stood there unmoving while her eyes adjusted to the additional darkness. Like when she closed her eyes, Chica’s head exploded in front of her, but she was used to that now. It was nowhere as intense as it used to be.

Slowly, shadowy edges revealed themselves in the darkness, but Akna waited while they became more distinct. There was no way she would allow herself to mess this up by tripping over something in the dark.

In front of her, Inhuan perished at Ses-Zeltzin’s spear—something she hadn’t witnessed in real life. But she saw it sometimes nevertheless, an image constructed from what Meleng had told her. She wouldn’t let it impede her here. In fact, she could use the rage it built in her. She could channel it against Godran.

Gradually, the shadowy edges revealed themselves as a table and some chairs to her left. To her right, a rug and fireplace. The room seemed to be a combination kitchen, dining room, and greeting room, much less ostentatious than the rooms of the nobility, but still more than typical for most servants.

There was another door almost directly across from the entrance. Akna wasn’t sure how many rooms Godran had, but it was probably only two or three. If it was only two, then the other one would be the bedroom, and he must share it with his son.

That was a complication. She didn’t relish the idea of doing this in front of the boy.

Maybe she should turn back. She could easily get out with no one the wiser that she had ever been here.

No. This had to be done. Watching him had achieved nothing so far. He almost certainly knew he was under suspicion and was not likely to do anything to give himself away.

She could try to find a time when the boy wouldn’t be around, though. But that would have to be during the day, when it would be too visible, with too many other people around who might interfere.

No, the boy was a Darker too. Even if it was not by choice, the only way he could be freed of that was to see the reality of what being a Darker meant.

She edged across the room to the other door, opened it a crack and peered in.

As she’d suspected, it was a bedroom with two beds. Each had a single figure asleep in it. They were wrapped in blankets, so it wasn’t immediately apparent who was who, but one was somewhat smaller than the other, so that was presumably the boy, Lucas.

There wasn’t much else in the room: a wardrobe with a mirror, a locker at the foot of each bed, and a small table along the wall by a shuttered window. On the table was an unlit lantern, and a few personal grooming tools.

Drawing her dagger, Akna crept towards the bed with the larger figure.

Godran Frellan was lying on his left side, his mouth slightly agape, a small bit of drool hanging from his short beard. She placed the edge of the dagger’s blade against his throat, providing just enough pressure that he should feel the cold of it, but it wouldn’t cut him—not if he stayed still.

With a soft gasp and slight cough, his eyes shot open and his head moved slightly. The dagger nicked his throat, drawing just a drop of blood. He gasped again and went still.

Akna glanced at the other bed. The boy hadn’t moved, so she looked back at Godran and held a finger to her lips. “Shh. Don’t want to wake the boy.”

He glared at her, his lips twitching.

“Cry out and you’ll be dead in an instant. I doubt it will be long enough for anyone to hear you, except for your boy. And then I’d have to kill him. You don’t want that, do you?”

He continued to glare at her.

“You can speak quietly if you want.”

“So when your day assassin failed, you come in the night,” he hissed.

“I’m the one who saved you.”

“Then why come at me now?”

“Because she had the right idea. She was just the wrong person to do it.”

“How do you know I can’t overpower you?”

While he was tall like a lot of Foliths, he was also thin and wiry. She was almost certainly the stronger—by a wide margin. Then again, Darkers sometimes had strange powers, like that one Zandrue called Mister Speedy, but she doubted Godran was one of those, and if he was, it was too late anyway. “If you could do that, you’d have done it already.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled.

As she’d expected, he wasn’t nearly strong enough to even budge her.

With her free hand, she grabbed his wrist, yanked his hand from her arm, and twisted it. He cried out, and his body shook. The dagger nicked his throat again. She continued to hold his wrist, twisted to just before the point of breaking.

His face contorted in pain, and after a moment, he hissed, “I yield! Please, release me.”

She let go of his wrist, but kept the dagger by his throat.

He took several deep breaths. “Thank you.”

“Father?”

Akna groaned and looked over to the other bed, where the boy had sat up. “Your father’s fine for the moment. Move from where you are, and that will change. I have some questions for him, and he’s going to answer them.”

The boy nodded slowly.

“I won’t answer your questions,” Godran said. “You’re going to have to kill me in front of my son. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” She hoped she filled that answer with conviction because, truth was, she wasn’t sure she could do it, no matter what she had told herself coming in here.

“Then do it.” He closed his eyes and lay flat on his back. “Kill me. I will not resist.”

Akna repositioned the dagger so that it was near the artery in his neck, but she wasn’t going to kill him yet. It was time to see how well he could hold to his convictions. “You’re a Darker. Who are you taking orders from?”

His eyes turned to look at her, but he otherwise remained still and silent.

Akna pushed the dagger a little closer, but not yet breaking the skin. “Who is giving you orders?”

Still he remained silent, though beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. Good. He was afraid, so maybe he would break eventually.

She looked over at the boy, who was staring in their direction. It was too dark to tell his exact expression, but she was certain he was afraid too. She looked back down at Godran. “Maybe it’s not you I should threaten. Maybe I should threaten your boy.”

His lips twitched and his shoulders shook. “I will not answer your questions.”

Akna sighed and looked over to the boy again. She really didn’t like threatening a child, even a Darker child. Maybe this was the wrong thing to do.

“He can’t answer you,” the boy said. “It’s impossible.”

Akna loosened the pressure of the dagger on Godran’s neck. “What do you mean?”

“Plavistalorik did something to his mind so he couldn’t. I think the new one did something too.”

“Lucas!” Godran hissed.

Akna pressed the dagger against his neck again. “Quiet.” She looked to Lucas. “And they didn’t do anything to you?”

The boy shrugged. “I don’t know enough. The most I could do is point you to my father, and he can’t point you to anyone.”

“Lucas!”

“I said, quiet,” Akna said, not looking at Godran. She really should have anticipated something like this. She knew what Plavistalorik could do to a person’s mind, knew it all too well.

“I’m sorry, Father, but what can I do? She’ll kill you.”

“You will say no—” Godran’s words cut off into a gargling sound. His hands went to this throat, even as Akna withdrew the dagger. He didn’t seem to notice as it sliced his palm. He just clutched at his throat, making more gargling noises.

“Father?” Lucas jumped from his bed and rushed to his father’s side.

Akna stood up and took a few steps back. “It wasn’t me. I…”

Godran appeared to be choking, his eyes bulging and his bloody hands still grabbing at his neck like they were trying to remove something there.

“Father!” Lucas cried. He glared at Akna with tear-stricken eyes. “This is why he can’t talk.”

But he hadn’t talked. Gods, like that mattered. She’d done enough to trigger whatever Plavistalorik had done to him. Or the new one. Lucas had mentioned a new one, but now was hardly the time to ask about that. All she could do was watch Godran choke to death.

She had never seen anyone die like this. It was a slow and inefficient way to kill someone. It was also horrifying.

It felt like ages before his hands fell from his neck. He continued to gurgle a moment longer, but then went completely still and silent, his eyes still staring widely but lifeless.

Lucas was trembling, but otherwise sat there unmoving and quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Akna muttered. “I…”

Godran’s body gurgled again and his hands shot back up to his throat.

Lucas jumped off the bed. “Father?”

Godran’s hands moved about rapidly, and he made more gurgling noises, all quick and rapidly repeating. But there was something off. The sound was… Akna couldn’t put her finger on it. It was just wrong somehow.

But there was something else that took a moment to become clear in the dark room. The dark stain of the blood on his neck and bedsheets was retreating—back into his hand. A moment later, he withdrew his hands, uncut, from his neck and started speaking. It was a strange language Akna didn’t...no, he was speaking backwards.

What the hell was happening?

“I will not answer your questions,” he said in the correct order.

Lucas rushed forward. “Father?”

“Lucas? What’s…?” Godran sat up and looked from Lucas to Akna. “You...you moved. And Lucas, you...I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” Akna muttered.

“Try a new approach,” a new voice said.

An Isyar was standing in the doorway, but not one Akna recognised. She was tall for an Isyar, almost Akna’s height, similar in that regard to Mikranasta, but much younger. She looked about Akna’s age, which meant she was probably a few years older. Her outfit was like Feviona’s, though it looked darker in colour. Holding her hands in front of her chest, she spun them briefly around each other.

“I...I don’t understand,” Akna said.

“Try another approach,” the Isyar repeated. “Try new questions that might not trigger the spell in his head. Quickly. You have little time.”

“I...uh…” Akna gulped and looked back towards Godran. “Um…” What was she supposed to say?

“I will not answer your questions no matter what you do to me or Lucas,” Godran said.

“Right...but you...I mean…” Shit. What the hell was going on here?

“Please leave him alone,” Lucas said. “I told you he can’t tell you anything. Plavistalorik—”

“Lucas! Enough! I—” Godran stopped suddenly and his hands shot to his neck once more as he started to choke again.

“Damn,” the Isyar said.

Then, the scene reversed again. Godran’s hands retreated and he spoke backwards again. It was shorter this time before he resumed forward speech. “I will not answer your questions.”

“A new approach. I cannot manage this a third time.” The Isyar spun her hands in front of her chest again.

“Just go!” Lucas yelled. “Leave him alone!”

With a sigh, Akna nodded. “We’ll go.” There really wasn’t any other choice. She turned and pushed past the Isyar back into the outer room, then back into the hall, stopping by the window she’d paused at earlier.

That had been an utter disaster. Gods, what an idiot she’d been to even try it! She should have known there’d be some sort of spell on Godran. After all, she’d been through the same sort of thing herself. With a snarl, she kicked the wall under the window. It didn’t help.

The strange Isyar approached her. “The man has died anyway. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. I got there too late.”

Akna glared at the Isyar. “Who the hell are you?”

The Isyar’s eyes widened. “You don’t know?” Then her jaw lowered. “Oh. Oh no.” She turned away, her wings twitching and one nearly batting Akna. “I’ve come back too soon. I’m sorry, I must go.”

As the Isyar started to retreat, Akna reached out and grabbed her. “Oh no, you don’t. You owe me.”

The Isyar cried out in pain. Without thinking, Akna had simply grabbed for the nearest part she could, and that had turned out to be the Isyar’s wing. She let go immediately. “Sorry about that. But...please don’t go.”

The Isyar turned around slowly. “You are right. I do owe you, though you don’t know for what yet.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “But I’ve made a mess of things. I should have...that is…” She looked away again. “I’m sorry, I…”

Akna leaned to the side a little to remake eye contact. “It’s all right. I’m not angry or anything.” That was a bit of a lie. She was definitely angry, but more at herself, and any anger she might hold for this Isyar she should keep hidden. This Isyar was not only incredibly powerful, but also young. “I just want to understand who you are and why you’re here.”

The Isyar nodded and looked back at Akna. Despite plastering a smile on her face, it was clear she was barely keeping from bursting into tears.

Akna held out her hand. “Look, why don’t we go somewhere...I don’t know, somewhere else? Somebody’s bound to come along here, even at this time of night, and Lucas will probably raise the alarm eventually once he’s gotten over the shock.”

A few tears dripped down the Isyar’s face as she took Akna’s hand.

“How did you get in here unseen anyway?” Akna asked. Of course, the answer was obvious: magic. Though going unseen was usually a mentalism thing, wasn’t it? This Isyar somehow didn’t seem like a mentalist, though Akna had no idea what kind of wizard she might be.

“It’s a bit complicated to explain,” the Isyar said.

“For that matter, how are we going to move through the palace without you being seen?”

With a smile, the Isyar tugged lightly on Akna’s hand. “I’ll show you. Come closer.”

Akna stepped up closer to the Isyar.

“Closer.”

Akna hesitated. Much closer and she’d be making herself vulnerable. Hell, she was vulnerable even this close.

“Please, trust me,” the Isyar said. “You’re the last person I’d want to hurt.”

Taking a deep breath, Akna moved closer again, so that her face and chest were almost touching the Isyar’s. At least this close, the Isyar was making herself just as vulnerable to Akna as Akna was to her.

The Isyar looked up at Akna. This close, Akna could now see that her eyes were yellow like Feviona’s, though maybe a bit darker.

Something brushed against Akna’s shoulders. It was the Isyar’s wings wrapping around her. Instinctively, she tried to step back, but the Isyar gently squeezed her hand.

“This will only take a moment. Trust me.” The Isyar pressed herself close against Akna, her wings wrapping tightly against Akna’s back, her forehead resting against Akna’s lips almost like Akna was kissing her. “I am not very powerful and can only do this with another person if we are uncomfortably close to each other.”

A shiver passed through Akna. Had it gotten darker? She couldn’t see the hall any longer.

“Normally, I would only do this with my diare or gliare, and maybe my fomase if I knew him yet. Though hopefully, I will be more powerful by the time I meet him.”

Was that a wind blowing against them? It had definitely gotten colder. Akna pulled her head back and looked around. The pitch blackness that had momentarily surrounded them had brightened to the normal darkness of night.

They were in the grounds outside the palace, and yes, there was definitely a cold wind blowing. She wasn’t dressed to be outside.

“Don’t move away yet,” the Isyar said. “One more thing needs to be done, or it will draw too much energy from me.”

The Isyar gently squeezed Akna’s hand again, and ran her other hand along Akna’s bare arm, sending a shiver through Akna. Then the Isyar let go, removing her wings, and stepping back.

Akna rubbed her arms in the cold and shivered some more. Since coming to Quorge, she had learned to always take a shawl with her. Except, it had been the middle of the night and there was no reason why she might go outside and the shawl might get in the way and… She sighed. The short it was, she’d decided to go without on this one occasion.

“Oh my, forgive me,” the Isyar said. “I forgot humans don’t like these temperatures.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine. Let’s just move over by those trees where there’ll be some shelter from the wind.” She didn’t wait for the Isyar’s response, and just headed straight in that direction. Hopefully, the Isyar would follow. If she didn’t...well, there was nothing Akna could do about that.

The Isyar did follow her, and once they were under the shelter of the trees, Akna pressed up against one of the larger trunks. It wasn’t a lot better, but it did reduce the wind a little. “Now, please, tell me what the hell is going on.”

The Isyar bowed her head. “There is not much I can say. I’m not sure where to start.”

“You could start with your name.”

The Isyar grinned sheepishly. “Right, of course. My name is Lisanacora. I’m...um...I’m part of an organisation called the Hgirrh.”

Wasn’t that the organisation Feviona was part of? That explained the similar uniform. The darker colour had to indicate a different division or rank or something. “You said you owed me, and you seemed to think I should know you. Can you explain that?”

Lisanacora grimaced. “I came back too early. I didn’t realise. I should have been more careful to make sure, but I saw you in the window and I thought you recognised me.”

Akna held up her hands. “Hold on. Too early? What do you mean by that?”

Lisanacora whimpered and looked away. “I shouldn’t tell you. If my diare or the Hgirrh found out…”

“Except you’ve kind of already told me some of it. You specifically said, ‘too early’. Did you mean to come tomorrow or next week? How would that have made a difference. I’ve still never seen you before.”

“But you will.”

“Will what? See you again? Are you planning to come back at the right time?”

Lisanacora shook her head. “No. I’ve already been there. It’s you who…” She threw up her hands and turned around. “Please, you don’t understand.”

“That’s why I’m asking. Please explain so I do understand.”

Lisanacora didn’t answer right away. Instead, she raised her head and stared up at the tree branches and sky above.

“Well?”

After several more seconds, Lisanacora lowered her head and turned around. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’ve messed things up enough already. In a few weeks time, a month maybe, maybe a bit longer...I’m not sure what the date now is and what the date then will be...but the point is, you will save my life. Don’t ask me to go into any more specifics. I can’t tell you because I can’t risk your foreknowledge changing things. I’m already risking enough as it is. My diare wouldn’t let me thank you at the time, so I secretly came to thank you on my own, but time travel is difficult and I still have so much to learn. I got the time wrong. There you have it. Thank you for saving my life.”

Time travel? What kind of magic did that?

“You look confused. I don’t blame you. It must be very confusing. I’m sorry I messed up.”

With a shrug, Akna lowered herself down to sit on the ground. She hugged her knees against her chest to keep warm. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Or I suppose it is your fault, but I forgive you. I guess.” She didn’t understand any of this. “What kind of wizard are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t think you’re a mentalist. Are you some kind of enchanter?”

“Enchanter? No. I’m a chronomancer. I practise time magic.”

Akna looked up at her. “Huh?” That wasn’t a magical discipline she’d heard of.

Lisanacora grimaced. “Oh, of course. Time is a lost discipline in your...time.”

“Oh, right.” Now that she thought about it, she had heard something about there being lost disciplines. But then, how…? Time travel. Right.

“I should go,” Lisanacora said.

Akna jumped to her feet. “No, please. You said you owe me. We could use your help. You have incredible abilities. You can bring people back from the dead. You can teleport. We have a pearl that can do that, but we don’t know how to use it. With you, we wouldn’t need it. Felitïa would love to meet you! Please!”

“I can’t do the things you say. I can’t raise the dead. I can’t teleport.”

“I saw you. You brought me with you.”

Lisanacora shook her head. “I reversed that man’s personal timeline so that he didn’t die to begin with, and maybe something different could happen. But I can’t manage more than a few seconds. And when you say we teleported, we actually didn’t move at all.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. We were inside and then outside.”

“The world moves all the time. It spins and we move with it. I just separated us from that movement and shifted us a couple minutes forward in time. The world moved without us and we emerged in the same spot we left.”

Akna stared at her for a moment. “I don’t really understand, but the effect seems the same.”

Lisanacora shrugged. “Perhaps, but I can only move east or west as that’s the direction the world turns. I also have to move us in time. The farther you want to go, the farther in time we have to travel, but there’s a limit to that as well because the world moves around the sun as well as spins, and…” She sighed. “It’s not very useful as a teleporter in the way you hope for.”

“I suppose not, but it’s still something. At least, come meet Felitïa.”

Lisanacora shook her head. “I’ve been here long enough already. The Hgirrh will detect me if I stay too long.”

“We can help protect you from them. Feviona is a Hgirh—I mean Fevionawishtensen. And Mikranasta is a powerful mentalist.”

“You don’t have a Hgirrh with you, and even if you did, they would turn me in. And this Mikranasta will not be able to protect me, no matter how powerful she is. I really must go. Thank you again, and I will pay you back for what you did—will do.” She turned away.

“What about the Will-Breaker? Felitïa is the Will-Breaker. Have you heard of her?”

The Isyar turned back. “You know the Will-Breaker?”

Akna nodded quickly.

“That would explain…” Lisanacora smiled meekly. “I wish I could meet her, but that is the last thing I can do right now. If I did that, a whole contingent of Hgirrh soldiers would have arrived five minutes ago to ensure I don’t meet her. I could never hide such a blatant intrusion into the timelines. I might not be able to see you again either, but I will try to repay you.” She placed her hand on her chest. “May the weight of time be light, Nin-Akna. I fear it will not be, but… Thank you again. Goodbye.”

With a nod, Akna placed her own hand over her chest, but before she could say anything, Lisanacora was gone. She had simply vanished.

Shivering, Akna leaned against the tree trunk again. She’d almost forgotten the cold for a little while there, though she was fairly certain her shivering now was not because of the cold—at least, not entirely. This night had not gone as planned, but she could hardly have planned for any of this. Time travelling Isyar?

She had to tell Felitïa about this. She couldn’t be sure Lisanacora would want her to, but the Isyar had never asked her not to, and she didn’t need to follow the same rules anyway. She also needed some news to overshadow how badly she’d fucked things up with Godran.

She shivered again, this time definitely from the cold. It was time to get inside. Hugging her arms against her chest, she hurried back to the palace.