. . . a risk that would gain me nothing. It wouldn’t help me, it wouldn’t help Anne, and it wouldn’t help my friends. On the other hand, if I kept quiet, it’d give me leverage over Morden in the future. He wouldn’t be able to threaten me the way he had in the past.
And besides . . . did I actually care whether Morden got one over on the Council?
Not really.
I looked at Morden. He was watching me calmly, and I wondered how much of my thoughts he’d been able to guess. “Why are you really doing this?” I said. “And don’t tell me it’s for health reasons, or that you want to spend time with your family. You and Richard worked towards this for years. Why step away now?”
Morden nodded. “I am willing to gratify your curiosity, on condition that you keep the remainder of our conversation private.”
I thought for a second. “All right.”
“My arrangement with Richard worked most effectively while the two of us operated in separate spheres,” Morden said. “I was on the Council and dealt with Light mages; he stayed in the shadows and dealt with Dark ones. Unfortunately, once I made my final break with the Council, that was no longer sustainable. For a while I took the role of teacher, training adepts in Arcadia, but the distance between us was greatly reduced. As time passed, Richard and I were forced to take decisions that encroached upon each other’s freedom of action.”
“You wanted different things,” I translated. “The differences weren’t a problem to begin with because you weren’t in a position to act freely. Once you started winning, though . . .”
“A common problem with revolutions,” Morden said. “Fortunately, I had been aware of the risk, and decided that my stewardship of Arcadia would be my final act in this conflict. Once it was destroyed, I began making preparations to take my leave.”
I studied Morden, thinking. “Seems to me that if you saw it coming that far in advance, you should have prepared your departure a bit more carefully.”
“Perhaps.”
“I think you did prepare it more carefully,” I said. “Then all of a sudden you had to improvise. Something happened to move up your schedule, didn’t it?”
Morden nodded. “While my issues with Richard were a source of tension, they were not immediately urgent.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Anne.”
“Richard intended to employ Anne and her jinn as his trump card in a series of key conflicts with the Council. Your actions not only prevented this, but introduced a new and highly unpredictable variable. Richard has been forced to modify his plans.”
“Which plans?”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
I snorted.
“In any case, I feel that this is an appropriate moment for me to make my exit,” Morden said. “You, Anne, the jinn, Richard, and the Council are all quite busy with one another, and I see no particular reason to continue to involve myself.”
“In other words, you don’t want to end up like Jagadev or Levistus.”
“Essentially.”
“I wouldn’t really have pegged you as the type to run.”
“Verus, when you reach my age, you’ll learn that sometimes the best course of action is simply to walk away. Both Jagadev and Levistus ultimately failed to do that.”
“Walking away wouldn’t do very much good in my case.”
“Perhaps in your case I should have said ‘if’ instead of ‘when.’”
I gave Morden a narrow look. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“I think, thus far, you have played your cards in this conflict quite well,” Morden said. “However, your successes have come from joining forces against mutual enemies. As the number of players on the field continues to fall, that will become steadily more difficult.”
“You’re making it sound as though there’s something in the future you’re trying to avoid,” I said slowly. “Exactly how far away is this something?”
“A good question,” Morden said. “However, I suspect it’s one you’ll quickly be able to answer yourself.” He nodded to me. “Good-bye, Verus. Though we’ve had our differences, I’ve found our association to be quite educational. I will be happy to renew our relationship at some point in the future. But not just now.”
Morden walked away. I watched him disappear into the trees, until I felt the signature of a gate spell and knew he was gone. I had the feeling I wouldn’t be seeing him anytime soon.
Morden’s last words had left me uneasy. I scanned the futures, first quickly, then in detail. Still no danger. The clearing was empty of anything that could be a possible threat. I looked to see what would happen if I tried contacting other people . . .
And froze.
Oh shit.
There was no time to gather up my traps and gear, no time to use staging points. I pulled out my focus for the Hollow and made the quickest gate I’d ever done in my life.
—
I felt the difference the instant I set foot in the Hollow. The woods were hushed and the birds weren’t singing. There was a brooding, waiting feeling to the air, like approaching thunder.
I broke into a run and as I did, I reached out to Luna. Where are you?
Karyos’s clearing. Luna’s voice was terse. Hurry.
The journey from our front door to Karyos’s clearing was maybe a minute at a full sprint. I made it in less than that. As I broke through the treeline, I skidded to a halt.
The image of Karyos’s clearing made me think of a painting, one of those classical scenes with the figures captured on the brink of action. Karyos was under her tree, standing protectively in front of the trunk. To her right was Luna, close enough to Karyos to support her but not so close that an attack against one of them could threaten both. Luna’s stance looked casual, but she held her whip in one hand and a shortsword in the other, and I knew she was ready to burst into movement.
Hermes was on the far side of the clearing. The blink fox was almost hidden in the foliage, and only the amber gleam of his eyes marked him out in the shadows. He was crouched low to the ground, tail and paws flat on the grass, ready to run or teleport. Hermes, Luna, and Karyos formed a narrow arc, their gazes all fixed on the clearing’s other side.
Occupying the point where their gazes met was Anne. Alone out of all the people in the clearing, she looked relaxed, standing in a lazy hipshot stance. The black dress seemed to soak up the light, emphasising the pale skin of her arms and legs.
“Oh, look,” Anne said. “Daddy’s home.” From her tone of voice, it was clear she was not happy to see me.
“If you wanted to stop by for dinner,” I told her, “you could have asked.”
“What I wanted was to talk to Luna without you breathing down my neck.” There was an edge to Anne’s voice. “And we should have been done by now, except she keeps stalling.”
How bad is it? I thought at Luna.
Luna’s answer was instant. Bad.
I gave Anne a shrug. “If all you want to do is chat, I’m not going to stop you.”
“Good.” Anne’s tone was threatening, but she turned back to Luna. “Okay, you’ve got Alex to hold your hand. Now are you going to give me a straight answer?”
“It’s not that simple.” Luna sounded like she was choosing her words very carefully. “You talk about straight answers, but you won’t give me one.”
I’d already reached out with the dreamstone and found the person I needed. Without waiting for questions, I poured thoughts and images through the link far quicker than could be conveyed in words.
There was no pause before the reply. On my way.