“There is no way to bring her back. Before she killed Endrick, he did something to her. He corrupted her beyond redemption.”
His words hit me harder than any of the half-lives could ever have done. I sucked in a breath but could not make myself release it. If what he said was true, and Endrick had gotten to her, then Joth might be right.
Beyond redemption. Few words had ever been spoken of greater tragedy.
Loelle wasn’t finished arguing. “And then what? You attacked her, I assume. Where can she go now, Joth? You have doomed her!”
Joth dismissed his mother’s objections with a wave of his hand, then began walking a circle around her as he spoke. “Wasn’t it you who told me that Kestra was doomed from the moment of her birth? Didn’t you describe to me how any chance she might have had for a normal life vanished once she accepted the role of Infidante? How she belonged to all groups and to none. You told me of her powers, great in their potential, strong enough that they would certainly trap her within them. Didn’t you tell me that the closer she came to success, the more that success would destroy her?” Now Joth faced his mother directly. “The truth is that I did nothing to change her fate, nor did you; we only altered the route she took to get there.”
By then, I had recovered enough to sit up, though my voice was weak when I said, “Where is Kestra now, Joth?”
He closed his eyes to listen, then said, “The half-lives have found her, but she is not alone. You have accused me of terrible things, but I am not threatening her life. Someone else is.”
Harlyn.
“Kestra is in a weakened state,” Joth said. “She has no defense against her attacker. But even if she should happen to survive, if she returns to confront me, as she confronted Endrick, I will be ready for her.”
“I will not let you harm her,” I said.
“Nor I,” Loelle echoed.
Joth laughed. “Mother, eventually you will come to see that I am right. And, Simon, before you offer Kestra any protection, you might study your reflection in the mirror and see what my army did to you in only a few minutes. I will be less kind in our duel tomorrow.”
Loelle arched her neck. “We are leaving now, Simon and I.”
“Not just us,” I said. “I invite all Halderians to come with us, and all those of you who refuse to be associated with Joth Tarquin, king of his own wilted mind and nothing more.”
Loelle walked out first, then I, and when I glanced behind me, nearly the entire room of restored people was following us.
Joth still held the throne, but I left the palace certain I had won that battle between us.
I don’t know how long I ran through the tunnels, but the passages seemed to stretch out endlessly before me, a twisted maze that darkened and compressed with every step I took. Strength was slowly seeping back to me, so it should have been possible to pull enough magic together to find an escape, or to reach out for help, but my heart was drumming against my chest and my thoughts were flying in all directions. I was breathless and drenched in sweat, and through all of it, I knew only one thing: Harlyn was still behind me, still in pursuit. Still intending to kill me.
And so I ran, until at one point I tripped and fell, yet there was nothing beneath my feet to have caused it. Pain shot from my foot up through my leg. I tried to stand, but something held me down.
It had to be the half-lives, though I could not see them any longer. Not with my faded abilities. But they could certainly see me, and hear me, I hoped.
“Harm me and who will heal you?” I asked. “Joth? Hasn’t he already proven he intends to keep you as you are, as his half-life army? I am your only hope to return to life again, but I will not restore another person until you first prove your loyalty to me.”
The pressure on me yielded, but this time when I tried to stand, my foot collapsed beneath my weight. I wasn’t going anywhere. I stifled a cry just as Harlyn rounded the corner, her disk bow trained on me.
“Enough running,” she said.
“Prove your loyalty now,” I said, but not to her.
Almost instantly, Harlyn was knocked against the wall by some unseen action. And even through the darkness, I saw a silver disk somehow reverse from its intended motion, flying backward and lodging in Harlyn’s arm. With a cry, she slid to the ground, out of my reach, but not out of theirs.
Finish the job.
That was what I intended to say to the half-lives next, but suddenly they were gone, as quickly as they had come, as if Joth had summoned them back to himself. Obviously, he had their true loyalty.
Which left Harlyn on one end of this small tunnel room, and me on the other. Neither of us able to leave; both of us capable of killing the other.
I could do it. Everything in me wanted to do it.
Yet as I contemplated how to do it, she shifted her position and gasped with pain as she pulled the disk from her shoulder. I didn’t need to do anything after all. The bleeding would take care of everything, in time. Her own weapon would become the cause of her death. That was better justice than I could provide.
“We have no cauterizing powder here,” I said. “How badly are you injured?”
“Why?” she replied. “Trying to decide how much effort it will take to finish the job?”
“Not half the effort as you expended in chasing me this far. I completed my task as Infidante. I had hoped you would choose a different way of thanking me.”
“You must understand why I have to do this,” Harlyn said. “If a wolf kills a bear, as grateful as you are, that doesn’t mean you are safer with the wolf.”
“That wolf spared your life—twice—in the throne room!”
“And why did you?” Harlyn paused to draw in a deep, stilted breath.
“Whatever my reasons, it was obviously a mistake.”
“Why did you?” Harlyn asked again.
Rather than answer, I reached for my injured ankle. It must have been swelling within the boot. If I were to drag myself closer to Harlyn, with a single touch, I could pull enough strength from her to heal myself. I could pull everything from her if I wanted to.
And in that moment, I absolutely wanted to. The only reason I was even down here was because of her.
“Come any closer and you’ll get a disk too.” Harlyn quickly loaded the pocket of her bow. “The one that got me is silver—I’ll recover from it. But this one is black. Get it and—”
“You forget that I am immortal now, Harlyn.” Or mostly immortal. I wasn’t sure how the black disk would affect me, but it was enough to keep me at a distance. To make myself feel better, I added, “I can afford to be patient, but you cannot. I suspect you only have a couple of hours left to live.”
“Will you still have your sanity by then?” Harlyn’s strike back at me was cruel. “In this small, dark passage, I imagine you feel like the walls are closing in on you.”
“That’s enough.”
“It’s almost like being buried alive,” she continued, then drew in a loud breath. “The air down here is already becoming thin. I’m sure that I’m taking more than my fair share.”
“Enough, Harlyn!”
She breathed loudly again, taunting me.
In a greater panic, I flung out an arm, intending to frighten her, but the passageway shook, violently enough that the tunnel from where we had just come collapsed.