CHAPTER 13

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ARLEN BALES

334 AR

“She’s gonna be steamed,” Renna warned.

“Ay, you don’t know the half of it,” Arlen agreed. “But she’s got a right.”

“Sure you don’t want me to come along?” Renna asked. She didn’t say it, but the image of Arlen and Leesha in passionate embrace flashed across her aura. She didn’t believe it was a real risk now that they were man and wife, but neither could she forget it happened.

“Be back for you soon enough, Ren,” he said, “but Leesha’s earned herself a shout, and I’m better equipped to weather it alone.”

“Long as that’s all it is,” Renna said. “No one gets to slap you but me.”

“Ent I fortunate.” Arlen winked at her, drawing a deep breath and letting himself dissipate as he blew it back out. The demons called this the between-state, where they existed only as energy, subject to the currents of magic all around them, with only will to hold them in place.

He reached out with his will, finding a tendril of magic venting up from the Core and using it as a guide as he slipped deep beneath the surface. Other paths opened to him, converging in a complex maze, but he didn’t hesitate in choosing his course. Even hundreds of miles away, he could sense the current of the Hollow greatwards, Drawing all magic in the area into a great vortex.

He let it Draw him until he was inside the net, then exerted his will and fell into orbit around the greatward’s center, lest it pull him apart.

Knowledge opened to him once he was on the greatward, and he drank it in, absorbing much of what had transpired in his absence as he sifted out a single aura and skated toward it with the speed of thought.

The wards Leesha had laid about the count’s keep were formidable, but they were meant to repel demons and, in some cases, humans. Arlen was neither, slipping between the cracks, invisible to the unwarded eye. Even those with wardsight would only see an increase in ambient magic, drawn to the pull of the wards on the walls.

Arlen skated along these as easily as the greatward. He taught wardcraft to Leesha; knew her script like none other. Running along it was like caressing a part of her, reminding him of caresses they shared in what felt like another life. He was thankful Renna was not with him. When they dissipated together, their emotions were laid bare.

He found her sitting in the count’s office. Arlen materialized in the shadows, releasing some of his inner magic into the wards of unsight tattooed along his limbs.

Hidden from sight, he Drew a touch of ambient magic from the room, Reading. Not the count’s office anymore. Thamos hadn’t been here in months, and one glance at Leesha’s aura told him she was countess now. Power—and the burdens it brought—radiated like heat around her, images dancing around her like demons.

Arlen remembered to breathe, letting the pain wash over him. Count Thamos, for all his bluster, had been a good man, and those were ever in short supply. His death did the world no favor.

Leesha was not alone. Wonda stood guard, blackstem wards peeking out from the rolled sleeves of her blouse. She shone with power, and it was beautiful to see. Arlen had looked into thousands of auras, but few were as pure and uncomplicated as Wonda Cutter’s.

But even that was nothing compared with what radiated from the cradle. The child of Leesha and Jardir, burning like a miniature sun. He swallowed a lump in his throat, reaching up to brush a tear from his eye.

There were inert wards of silence around the room. Arlen sketched a ward in the air, activating them.

Leesha stiffened, sensing the change. Her hand darted to her belt, where a gold-plated wand of demon bone hung.

Ever alert, Wonda put a hand to the knife at her hip. “Everythin’ all right, mistress?”

“Check the door,” Leesha said. “Take your bow.”

“No need for that, Won.” Arlen stepped from the shadows.

Leesha was on her feet in an instant, drawing a mimic ward in the air.

“Ent a demon, Leesh,” Arlen said. “It’s me. Honest word.”

“Deliverer.” Wonda dropped to one knee.

Arlen rolled his eyes. “How many times I need to tell you to knock that off ’fore you start listening, Wonda Cutter?”

Wonda shrugged, getting back to her feet. “ ’Bout a million, I reckon.”

“Halfway there, then,” Arlen said.

“Good to see ya, sir,” Wonda said. “Knew ya wern’t dead.”

“Good to see you, too,” Arlen said. “Got words for you and a few others, soon. Proud of you. But right now, be obliged if you stand outside the door and make sure we don’t get any accidental visitors.”

“Ay, sir.” Wonda took her bow and quiver, heading for the door.

“Not a word to anyone, Wonda,” Leesha said.

“Ay, mistress.” Wonda closed the door behind her.

“Countess Paper,” Arlen said. “Do I bow, or…?”

Leesha clipped the wand back on her belt and opened her arms. “Shut it and hug me.”

Arlen embraced her tightly, and she him. Her scent filled his nostrils—herbs and soap, the sweetness of her milk, and that smell that was hers alone. He resisted the urge to put his face in her hair and breathe as he once had.

They let go only reluctantly, but once his grip loosened, Leesha shoved him back. “Corespawn you, Arlen Bales! You gave us all a deathly fright! You and your ripping secret plans! Is Ahmann alive, too?”

Arlen rubbed at the back of his neck. “Course he is, Leesha. Didn’t kill anyone. Renna told you that.”

“She didn’t.” Leesha practically spat the words. “She said he wasn’t coming back, same as you.”

She smacked at his chest. He could have stopped her, or moved, or dissipated and let the hand pass through him, but he let it happen. “Get it all out, Leesh. Know I got it comin’.”

“Corespawned right!” she growled, but his passive stance took some of the wind from her. Leesha’s emotions could boil over now and again, but at heart she was a creature of logic. She had questions, and they couldn’t be asked while she was shouting.

There was a cry from across the room as the baby stirred.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Leesha said. “I only just got the baby to sleep.”

“I ent the one shouting.” Leesha moved toward the crib, but Arlen was faster. He scooped the child up, unable to keep the smile from his face.

He looked back, and there was panic in Leesha’s aura. She was terrified by him touching the child, but she kept it in check, saying nothing. Arlen put out a finger and the babe took it, cries forgotten as the tiny eyes stared up at him.

Looking closer into the child’s aura, he saw what Leesha feared. “Ay, don’t see that every day.”

Leesha’s aura became guarded. “That all you have to say?”

Arlen ignored the question. “What’s her name?”

“Olive.” Arlen could see the image of an olive floating above Leesha, half bitten with the stone showing.

He laughed. “Olives got stones.”

Leesha crossed her arms. “My mother said that.”

“It’s a good name,” Arlen said. “She’ll like it.”

Leesha’s aura shifted from guarded to curious. “What makes you think Olive’s a she?”

Arlen looked back at the child, wondering that himself. He probed deeper, pulling a touch of magic through Olive and absorbing it, Reading the imprint she left. All around her, images danced in her aura. More than he had ever seen. They weren’t her thoughts or memories; she was too young for those. They were what might be.

“Don’t know,” he said at last. “But I know I’m right. Olive’ll answer to she, but always know she’s neither.”

Pain lanced across Leesha’s aura. Her eyes teared, and she put a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob.

Arlen cradled Olive in one arm, reaching a hand out to squeeze Leesha’s shoulder. “Don’t matter. She’ll be Olive, too big to fit in any box. World’s just gonna have to get used to her.”

Leesha let out a choked laugh. “My mother said that, too.”

“Smarts like a whip, your mam,” Arlen said. “Olive’s got hard times ahead, but she’s as special as her parents. Maybe more. Ent nothin’ the world can throw at her she can’t handle.”

Leesha looked up at him, eyes still wet with tears. “How can you know these things?”

Arlen looked back at the swirling images around Olive and shrugged. “See things, now. Sometimes what folk are thinkin’, and sometimes…something else. Like the dice, I reckon. Not what will be, but what might. Odds are good none of us has much future left, but if we get through what’s coming…”

“Where’s her father?” Leesha asked.

“On guard duty till I finish up here,” Arlen said. “Then he’s got his own business to settle in Everam’s Bounty. After that, we’ll be away again.”

“What business?” Leesha demanded. “Guarding what? Away where? What’s coming?”

Arlen blew out a breath. “Stirred up the hornet’s nest, Leesh. Gonna be a swarm, and it’s kind of my fault.”

Arlen saw the flash of pain behind Leesha’s eye even before she pressed the heel of her palm into her temple, easing it. “That sounds like the Arlen Bales I know.” She strode back to her chair. “Tea?”

“Ay, thanks,” Arlen said. Olive closed her eyes, and he eased himself gently onto the couch across from Leesha so as not to wake her. Leesha poured, and he took the cup with his free hand. It was bitter, but that was no surprise. Leesha didn’t withhold sugar on purpose; it just never occurred to her that anyone would want it.

She squinted at him through her warded spectacles. “Night, Arlen. If you want sugar, all you have to do is ask.”

He smiled. “You’re better’n you let on at reading auras.”

“Doesn’t take a mind demon,” Leesha said. “I can see a ripping sugar pot floating over your head.”

“Don’t start to make out images till you’ve got the hang of it,” Arlen said.

Leesha waved a dismissive hand, but he could see she was pleased. “Does this mean you’ve been wanting sugar all this time and never said a word?”

Arlen shrugged. “You never set it on the table unless someone asks, and I ent one to cause a fuss. Drank worse’n bitter tea in my time.”

“Ichor?” Leesha asked, and Arlen felt his blood turn cold. He kept his haggler’s mask in place, probing her aura to see how much she knew.

He blew out a breath, setting down the drink. “How’d you figure it out?”

“I didn’t,” Leesha said. “Stela Inn did. Now she’s locked in the dungeon in a warded cell, and dozens of magic-drunk teenagers are eating demon meat out in Gatherers’ Wood.”

“Night.” Arlen put his face in his palm.

“You could have told me,” Leesha said. “You could have trusted me.”

“Like I trusted you not to go warding folk’s skin?” Arlen asked. “Like I trusted you to take my word that too much magic’s dangerous? You saw what I was like, Leesha. Livin’ in the wild like an animal, forgettin’ what it meant to be a man. Nearly left you and Rojer for dead on the road, and you caught me on a good day.”

Leesha crossed her arms. “But it was all right for Renna?”

Arlen scowled. “Renna din’t give me any more choice in the matter’n you, Leesh. Surrounded by women who won’t do what I tell ’em.”

She smirked at him. “Maybe that’s what you need to keep you from acting the fool.”

Arlen chuckled in spite of himself. “Ay, maybe.”

Leesha got up, striding to a side table with a simple clay tea service. No fancy silver for this duchess. She returned with the sugar pot, taking the tongs and dropping two cubes into his cup. She set the pot down and returned to her seat. “Now tell me what you’ve gone and done.”

“Trust you, Leesha Paper,” Arlen said. “Always have. But just like you din’t hand me the secrets of fire when I asked, I kept some things. We all got a right to our own counsel.”

Leesha pursed her lips but didn’t argue.

“Now…” He sighed. “Don’t know I’m gonna live to see you again, so there ent much point in holdin’ secrets. Tell you everything you want to know, but I need your oath, out loud, to keep it quiet. Someone gets wind of what I’m about to tell you, and a mind catches ’em, whole world’s in jeopardy.”

Leesha didn’t hesitate. “I swear on the child sleeping in your arm. Your secrets are safe with me.”

Arlen nodded. “Minds didn’t come after me and Jardir by accident. They take this Deliverer business even more serious than the Tenders. Call us Unifiers. Minds to stir the drones into a real resistance. Long as we were around, they were going to keep coming.”

“Renna said as much when you sent her,” Leesha said.

“Thought we could fight ’em, like they did in the old days,” Arlen said. “Then they caught me in that trap on new moon and went through my mind like a rummage trunk. Could hear ’em, chattin’ in my head. Looked at my life and plans and laughed at what a joke it all was.

“But then,” he tapped his temple, “they let slip one little thing.”

“What?” He could see her resisting the urge to lean in.

“Saw where I got the wards from,” Arlen said. “Saw Anoch Sun, and swore to go back there the next new moon and obliterate the place.”

Leesha’s eyes narrowed. “You knew where they’d be.”

Arlen nodded. “Knew then I couldn’t kill Jardir. Demons saw that plan in my mind. Had to do something they didn’t expect.”

“Domin Sharum was a ruse from the start,” Leesha guessed. “You kidnapped Ahmann and took him there.”

Arlen nodded. “And Renna, Shanvah, and Shanjat.”

Leesha clenched a fist, aura spiking hot with anger. “But not me. Not Rojer or Gared or…”

“Couldn’t risk it,” Arlen said. “Whole thing hinged on hiding in a tiny burial chamber until the minds came to shit in Kaji’s sarcophagus. Every added body increased the chance they’d spot us and run before we struck.”

“So what happened?” Leesha demanded.

“Jardir’s crown projects a warding field in a sphere,” Arlen said. “Demons can’t get in, and they can’t get out. We killed some of the lesser minds, and trapped the big bad in with us.”

Leesha’s eyes widened. “You mean…?”

Arlen nodded. “Alagai Ka. He’s real as you’n me.”

“Did you kill him?” Leesha asked.

Arlen looked around, checking to see that the wards of silence were still active. He drew a few extra, just in case. Unsight. Confusion. Leesha watched patiently.

“Corespawned bastard wiped the floor with us,” he said. “Literally. Took me, Jardir, and Renna, with all our tricks and traps, to finally beat him down and chain him up.”

Leesha gaped. “Chain?”

“He’s alive,” Arlen said. “That’s what Jardir’s guarding.”

“But why?” Leesha asked.

“Ent gonna like the answer,” Arlen warned.

Leesha scowled, crossing her arms. “Out with it, then.”

“Gonna make him take us to the Core to kill the demon queen.”

“Night.” Leesha’s aura showed she had been readying a scolding, but as the enormity of his words sank in, she deflated. “And the demons are going to swarm to stop you?”

Arlen shook his head. “Not exactly.”

“Night,” Leesha said again, when Arlen finished explaining. She always knew he was crazy, but this…“Do you still think going down to the hive is a good idea?”

“Got a better one?” Arlen asked.

Olive remained asleep in the crook of his arm, looking so peaceful. His aura enveloped her protectively. What would it be like for her to grow up never knowing him? Without ever having met her father? Leesha was not as skilled as them at reading auras, but even she could see that Arlen saw this as a mission they would not return from.

“You say the lesser mind demons are already nesting,” Leesha said. “You could kill the demon king and hunt them down, one by one. Fight the demon war the old-fashioned way.”

“There were a lot more folk back then,” Arlen said. “Kaji’s army numbered in the millions. We ent got spears enough now, much less if the queen squirts out a hundred thousand fresh demon eggs.”

He blew out a breath. “But maybe this is the old-fashioned way, give or take. Evejah says Kaji took the fight underground, and Alagai Ka confirms it.”

“Kaji killed the demon queen?” Leesha asked.

“Tried to,” Arlen said. “Got close. But something happened in the last press. Creator only knows.”

“Since when do you believe in the Creator?” Leesha asked.

Arlen shrugged. “Know what I mean.”

“How do you know this demon isn’t leading you into a trap?” Leesha asked.

He shrugged again in that infuriating way he had. “Probably is. But the corelings don’t know we’re coming, and thanks to your cloaks they ent likely to see us. With the demon daddy tattooed and chained, there’s a limit to the damage he can do.”

“Sounds like he’s already shown you that limit is more than you expect.”

Arlen nodded. “Won’t take any chances we don’t have to, but can’t just sit here and wait for night to fall for good.”

“No,” Leesha agreed. “No, you can’t.”

“Minds are going to try to crack the Free Cities open like eggs,” Arlen warned. “They’ll need fresh meat to feed the hatchling queens. Every major settlement is going to get hit as they stake out their territories.”

“What happens when they kill us all and run out of food?” Leesha massaged her temple.

“Then they expand their reach,” Arlen said. “We ent the only people in the world, Leesha, and this hive ent the only one.”

“So what?” Leesha asked. “You kill the queen and we withstand the swarm and it’s all just a temporary fix?”

Arlen shook his head. “Not if we keep building greatwards. We last through the next year, a generation from now corelings won’t be able to materialize anywhere in Thesa.”

“You really believe that?” Leesha asked.

“Much as I believe anything,” Arlen said, and there was no lie in his aura. “When I was little, folk didn’t think demons could be fought at all. Proved ’em wrong, and then folk didn’t think Krasians and Thesans could work together. Proved them wrong, too. Write our own destinies, Leesh, long as we got the stones to do it.”

Olive burbled, shifting to nestle further into him, and Leesha clenched a fist. “Then that’s what we’ll do. What do you need?”

“Gonna have to get word to the other cities,” Arlen said. “Can you handle Angiers? Euchor ent going to listen, but I’ve got some other friends in Miln—”

“You don’t,” Leesha cut in.

“Ay?” Arlen asked.

Leesha savored the moment. “Elissa and Ragen are here, in the Hollow.”

Arlen’s eyes grew wider than teacups, and she smiled. “They were in Lakton when the Krasians attacked. They’re staying in this very keep while they gather supply for the trip home.”

“Saves me a trip then.” Arlen regained control of his expression, but she could see the pleasure her words brought.

Creator, let him have this bit of joy. If anyone deserves it, it’s Arlen Bales.

“Can you ask Wonda to fetch them here while I skate back to get Ren, please?” Arlen asked. “Rojer and Gared, too.”

Leesha froze, keeping her expression calm, but it didn’t matter. Arlen saw right through her. His eyes flicked above her shoulder, seeing the ghost that no doubt hovered there. Any touch of elation vanished from his aura.

“Rojer’s dead?!”

In his arm, Olive began to cry.

Arlen was still brushing away tears when he and Renna rematerialized in Leesha’s private office. Leesha had gathered Ragen, Elissa, Derek, Wonda, and Gared as he’d asked.

“Night,” Gared muttered to Wonda. “Coulda gone my whole life without seeing the Deliverer cry.”

Leesha glared at him, but it was too late. Arlen had ears like a bat.

“Human as you are, Gar,” he snapped. “Ent got a right to a few tears for my friend?”

“Course ya do,” Gared said. “Only meant—”

“Only meant you’re still stuck on this rippin’ Deliverer nonsense when there’s wood to chop!” Gone was the serenity they were accustomed to seeing on Arlen’s face. His eyes were afire, like Stela’s had been. His aura burned a hot red, and everyone in the room could see it.

Arlen advanced, and Gared shrank back. His knees buckled, and Arlen’s aura blazed. “So help me, Gared Cutter, you try and kneel and I’ll…”

Leesha started forward, but it was Renna, her own eyes wet and swollen red, who put a hand on his arm, checking him.

“Breathe,” she murmured.

Arlen pulled up, drawing a deep breath. The anger flowed out of his aura with the exhale, and everyone in the room joined in a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, Gar,” Arlen said.

“Had it comin’.” Gared blushed and waved a hand to dismiss it. “Might need a change o’ shorts, though.”

“Din’t,” Arlen said. “Ent you I was mad at. Should’ve been there. Should’ve…”

“Ay,” Gared said. “Think that every night. Never should’ve left the city with him locked up.”

“We all do,” Leesha said. “None of us imagined Janson could be so bold.”

Now it was Renna’s aura that reddened. “Take it this Janson ent breathin’ anymore?”

Leesha glanced around the room. With Rojer’s wives returned to Krasia, the secret didn’t really matter anymore. “Sikvah slit his throat in a palace lavatory.”

Gared blinked. “Li’l Sikvah? That can’t be right.”

“Believe it,” Wonda said. “Got in her way that night. Put me down like she was spankin’ a toddler.”

“Good riddance.” Renna spat on the floor, and Leesha bit her tongue.

“Sorry for missin’ the service,” Arlen said. “Leesha says it was somethin’ to see.”

“Whole Hollow came out,” Wonda said. “Tens o’ thousands, singin’ Rojer’s songs and beggin’ the Creator’s blessings for him in Heaven.”

“We came to the Hollow right in the middle of it,” Ragen said.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” Elissa added.

Arlen swallowed a lump in his throat. “Least I had family there, then.” He and Ragen started to put hands out, then thought better of it and had a brief hug, slapping each other on the back.

Men. Leesha fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Elissa put her arms out, and Arlen fell into them. He shuddered, and everyone’s eyes dropped, allowing them a moment’s privacy. Renna spied her bubbled spit on the floor and sketched a ward with her finger, evaporating it.

When at last they drew apart, Elissa produced a silk kerchief, gently wiping Arlen’s eyes. It was hard to imagine the Arlen Leesha knew letting anyone do that, but he just sniffed until Elissa finished and gave him a kiss.

Arlen turned to extend an arm to Renna. “This is my wife, Renna Bales.”

Renna took a step forward but kept her eyes down. Shame flared in her aura as images flickered around her. A proper dress. A bathtub. A memory of herself from before she cut her hair with a knife to keep it out of the way as she fought.

Creator, she’s changed so much in the last year. Leesha gave her head a tiny shake. Night, we all have.

Renna’s feelings were understandable, especially in the presence of Mother Elissa, who wore nobility like a robe. But there was no sign in aura or expression that it mattered a whit to the woman. She held her arms open to Renna just as she had to Arlen, and pulled the reluctant young woman in tight.

“Have you been taking care of my boy?” Elissa asked quietly.

Renna sniffed and nodded. “Doin’ my best.” She pulled back, and their eyes met at last. “I was there when Arlen lost his mam. Told me how you and Ragen were there for him, even when he din’t know he needed you. Thank you for that.”

And then it was Elissa who teared, and they held each other again.

Derek stepped forward next, staring at Arlen, trying to see past the tattoos on his face. Images flashed above him—Arlen as a young man, sandy-haired and smooth-cheeked, not a ward on his skin. He was beautiful, and Leesha’s heart ached at the sight.

Derek put out a hand. “Been a long time.”

Arlen slapped it aside, pulling the man into a rough hug. “Too long. And you a Messenger, now! Who’d have thought?”

Derek grinned. “Just needed a kick out the door. Still be rotting up in Brayan’s Gold, but for you.”

Arlen waved the thought away. “How are Stasy and Jef?”

“Well enough, when I get to see them,” Derek said. “Count Brayan’s got ’em locked up in his keep, and after a fortnight’s visit I outstay my welcome.”

“Get your own house, then,” Arlen said.

“Easier said than done,” Derek said. “Stasy and Jef got royal blood, and I ent. I can’t give them a life like Count Brayan can, if he’d even let them go. All I can do is keep workin’, maybe one day earn enough to get them back for real.”

Arlen clicked his tongue. “Core with ‘one day.’ Sortin’ this right now. Din’t risk our necks getting you to Miln so Brayan could snub you. Worth ten o’ him.” He looked to Leesha. “Mind if I use your desk?”

Leesha nodded, and Arlen took a seat and fresh parchment, dipping the pen with a practiced hand. He looked to Ragen. “What was it Cob left me in his will again?”

“Fifty-one percent of the warding business,” Ragen said. “And two of the five seats on the Ward Exchange, yours and his. We’ve been renting them. You’re worth millions of suns, if you ever come claim it.”

Arlen nodded, bending and writing across the top of the page in his beautiful, flowing script.

“Cob’s seat will go to you and Elissa,” Arlen told Ragen, “along with thirty of my fifty-one percent.” He looked to Derek. “My seat, and twenty-one percent of the business, will go to you.”

Derek’s eyes grew wide, and his aura turned white with shock. “You can’t be serious.”

“Serious as nightfall,” Arlen said. “You left the wards to find me when you thought I needed help. Now you need help, and I’m happy to give it.”

“Ay,” Derek sputtered, “but millions of suns? What if you need it one day?”

“Ent likely, where I’m goin’,” Arlen said. “Sides, got gold aplenty stashed all over Thesa.”

“It’s true,” Gared said. “Seen the barrels.”

“You keep it in barrels?!” Derek gaped.

“Can’t just leave it on the floor, can I?” Arlen asked. He finished writing, blowing on the ink to dry it. “Needs witnesses. Leesha? Gar?”

Leesha took the pen, signing her name, and handed it to Gared. He furrowed his brow, hand shaking a bit, but managed to write his name. Rosal’s lessons were progressing well.

“There,” Arlen said, blotting the paper and rolling it up. “Let’s see Brayan try and keep you down now.”

“But you ent dead,” Derek said.

“Far as the world knows, I am,” Arlen said. “Ent got to look over your shoulder, Derek. It’s yours, now.”

“I…” Derek shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say thank you,” Elissa suggested.

Derek pulled Arlen into another hug. “Thank you.”

“Congratulations, partner!” Ragen slapped Derek on the back. “Lucky to have you!”

It was a few minutes more before Leesha had everyone seated for tea. She made a point of putting the sugar pot in everyone’s reach.

Arlen produced a letter, handing it to Ragen. “For Tender Ronnell. He’s another one got this Deliverer business stuck in his head, but it means he’ll listen where Euchor might not.”

Ragen took the letter. “Do you want us to tell him you’re alive?”

“No one outside this room needs to know that.” Arlen’s eyes drifted to meet those of everyone in the room as he spoke. “You and Elissa left Miln not long after I disappeared. Easy enough to say you picked that and my will up when you first passed through the Hollow, and been carryin’ ’em ever since.”

“We’ve exchanged many messages with Miln in recent months,” Elissa noted.

Arlen shrugged. “Tell him Rojer gave it to you, with instructions not to trust it to anyone else.”

“A secret message sent just before your mysterious disappearance?” Elissa asked. “That won’t do much to dispel his belief that you’re the Deliverer.”

“Don’t think anything will,” Arlen said. “Belief is stubborn as a rock demon.”

“Ay,” Elissa agreed. “Like your belief that you’re not.”

Arlen rolled his eyes. “Night, not you, too.”

“There’s no test to know if someone is the Deliverer or not,” Ragen pointed out.

Arlen looked at him, incredulous. “Taught me yourself Deliverers don’t exist.”

“I taught no such thing,” Ragen said. “I said when humanity needed them, great generals rose to lead us. Their existence is documented, Arlen. It’s a fact. The Creator didn’t come down from Heaven to confirm it then, and I don’t expect He will now, but that doesn’t change the fact that our whole world has shifted because Arlen Bales had a stubborn streak.”

“Corespawned right,” Gared said, and even Leesha could not help but feel the power of the argument. Was Arlen Bales the Deliverer? Was Ahmann? Did divine blessing matter, if they were to walk that path?

“Can’t have people waiting for me to save them,” Arlen argued.

“Gettin’ tired o’ hearin’ that,” Wonda said. “Believed in you from the start. Din’t stop me from fightin’.”

“Or me,” Gared put in.

“Or most of the Hollow,” Leesha added. Arlen frowned at her, turning to Renna.

“What’s it matter?” his wife asked. “Doesn’t change what anyone’s got to do.”

Something softened in Arlen’s aura at that, a stubborn streak turned contemplative. “Belief of Ronnell and the other Tenders might be all that saves Miln in time. Trouble’s comin’, and fast. Euchor’s put all his faith in his flamework weapons, but they ent gonna be enough by a long sight. Holy Houses are going to be the safest places in Miln once the demons breach the walls.”

Ragen and Elissa looked at each other, paling.

“Do you think it will get that far?” Ragen asked.

“Miln’s walls hold because they’ve never really been tested,” Arlen said. “If One Arm could breach them, the minds’ll have no problem. Church wards are stronger, but still no match for rock demons with stones to throw. Hiding ent gonna be enough. Folk need to be ready to fight.”

Quickly, he relayed much of what he had told Leesha—the capture of the demon king, the coming swarm, and his plan to attack the hive.

Gared got to his feet at that. “Goin’ with you.”

“No, you ent,” Arlen said.

Wonda stood as well. “Can’t let the two of you go down there alone.”

“Ent alone,” Renna said. “Jardir and Shanvah are comin’, and they know their way around a fight. Two a’ you can do more up here than you can down there.”

Gared shook his head. “Bad enough, what happened to Rojer—”

“Gonna happen to Hollow County, they don’t have Gared and Wonda Cutter around when new moon comes again,” Arlen cut in. “Means the world to us you’re willing to go, but Renna’s right. Ent your fight.”

“Could use your help with Promise, though,” Renna said. “Don’t reckon I want to take her down into the dark with us.”

“Course,” Wonda said.

“Promise needs a firm hand,” Renna’s voice tightened, like a parent giving up a child, “but she won’t shy from a fight.”

“Take good care of her,” Wonda said. “Swear by the sun.”

“Gonna need all the help you can get,” Arlen said. “Minds are coming in hard. You’ll need to fight smart and take every advantage. Keep the Hollow safe, but find the hive ground and take it out if you can. It’ll be somewhere with surface access to an underground cavern. Close enough for them to direct the drones attacking the Hollow, but far enough you won’t find it by accident.”

“I’ll send out survey teams first thing tomorrow,” Leesha said.

“Be better if you still had Amanvah and her dice,” Arlen said.

“Amanvah’s returned to Krasia, but she’s promised to send another dama’ting to liaise with us,” Leesha said.

“Barely trusted Amanvah, but at least she was married to Rojer,” Gared said. “Now we’re gonna put our faith in some priestess with no stake in the Hollow?”

“Know how you feel, Gar,” Arlen said. “Honest word. But we gotta start trustin’ sometime. Ent got time to fight among ourselves anymore. If there’s a demon prince out there, it’s the last thing any good Evejan would lie about.”

“Next new moon is in less’n a week,” Renna said. “She gonna be here by then?”

Leesha shook her head. “In the meantime, Amanvah taught me something of reading dice, and I’ve been making a set of my own. Perhaps I can help point the way.”

“You know what you’re doing?” Arlen asked her.

Leesha smiled. “Do you?”

Gared and Wonda seemed scandalized at the question, but Arlen laughed. “Fair and true.”

“That’s well enough for the Hollow,” Ragen said, “but there are a thousand caves in Miln for a mind demon to hide from the sun.”

“Miln doesn’t have a Deliverer…yet.” Arlen winked. “Minds are going to underestimate you. Might be fool enough to show themselves.”

“And if not?” Elissa asked.

“Leave me a vial of your blood,” Leesha suggested. “Perhaps I can cast the dice, or persuade the dama’ting to do it for you.”

Arlen nodded. “Good thinkin’. I’ll have a word with Jardir before he heads back to Krasia. See if he can get you some help on that front.”

“What about Angiers?” Leesha asked. “And Lakton?”

“Lakton’s in less danger,” Arlen said. “At least the city proper. Water ent a good conductor for magic, and minds can’t control drones all the way out on the lake from shore. Krasians will have to do for any in their inland territory. As for Angiers…” He shrugged. “Can’t say I know much of anything about Duke Pether, and I doubt he’ll be inclined to listen if I skate into his office like I did yours.”

“You’re right about that,” Leesha said. “He sees you as a threat and is actively inciting his Council of Tenders against you.”

Arlen blew out a breath, looking to Ragen. “You spent more time there than anyone. Know any who’ll listen?”

“Most of my business was with Rhinebeck and Janson,” Ragen said. “I’ve been hunting a few times with the royal brothers, but each had his own entourage, and Pether was the one I knew least. He’d remember me well enough to secure an audience, but I doubt I can sway him with unprovable portents of doom. We’ve done a lot to line the pockets of the Warders’ Guildmaster, but the Tenders have their own Warders, and with Pether on the throne, the guild is out of favor.”

Leesha looked to Elissa. “You’ll need to meet with Araine.”

“The Duchess Mum?” Arlen asked. “How’s that dim old bird going to help?”

“Mum ent dim.” Wonda’s measured tone was respectful, but Leesha could see fierce loyalty in her aura, and knew Arlen must, as well. “Done nothin’ but right by the Hollow.”

“Cannier’n she looks,” Gared agreed, “but she ent gonna be much help in a war.”

Leesha sighed. If things were as dire as Arlen was saying, there was no point in keeping secrets anymore. “Up until Rhinebeck was murdered and Sikvah killed Janson, Duchess Araine was the real power in Angiers.”

Arlen blinked. “How’s that?”

“You always said the royals couldn’t tie their shoes without Janson,” Leesha said. “It was truer than you know. What you and everyone else were in the dark about was that Janson reported directly to Araine.”

Arlen’s eyes were on her, reading her aura, and she knew he could see the truth in her words. “When I ‘disappeared’ for your audience with the duke, it was to meet with her and negotiate terms for the Hollow. Everything that happened in your meeting was orchestrated by Araine. Rhinebeck had as much say in where things went as a Messenger’s horse deciding where to ride.”

“Huh,” Arlen said. “And now that Rhinebeck and Janson are dead?”

“I don’t know,” Leesha admitted. “Duchess Lorain was on the rise when we left, and Pether convinced the Creator put him on the throne.”

“Will she be any more inclined to believe us without evidence?” Elissa asked.

“I’ll pen letters,” Leesha said. “My old teacher Jizell is Royal Gatherer now. She’s been to the Hollow and seen what we’re up against. She’ll listen, I hope.”

“Night,” Arlen said. “Ent got time for politics and whispers. Need every ally we can get.”

“We could use your help with allies closer to home,” Leesha said. “I need you to speak to the Warded Children.”

Arlen shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“You said we need every ally,” Leesha pressed. “Every advantage. They’re strong, Arlen, and they worship you. You’re the only one who can guide them.”

Arlen shook his head again. “Didn’t fake my own death and hide out in a tower all these months to go and parade around in front of a mob. More people know I’m alive, more we risk everything. This is your mess, Leesha. Need to clean it up yourself.”

“What’s all this?” Renna asked.

Arlen turned to her. “Leesha took it on herself to paint blackstem wards on a bunch of kids. They got crazed and stopped listening to sense.”

“Dun’t sound so bad,” Renna said.

“Then one night they ate a demon’s heart on a dare,” Arlen said.

“Night,” Renna muttered.

Gared looked green. “Ent that poison?”

Arlen blew out a breath. “That’s what I wanted everyone to think. Ever wonder why Ren and I got powers in the day? Why Evin’s hound Shadow grew big as a nightwolf?”

“Arlen…” Elissa began.

Arlen met her eyes, and pain lanced across his aura. “Didn’t have a choice. Krasians left me to die in the desert. Nothing else to eat. I thought, They take so much from us, why not take something back?”

“Think I’m gonna slosh,” Wonda said.

“Hush,” Leesha told her.

“It’s all right,” Arlen said. “Don’t blame you, Won. But you’ve felt what warding your skin is like.”

“Makes you crazed,” Wonda agreed. “Ent in your right mind.”

Arlen nodded. “I’d just discovered the fighting wards. Right or wrong, wasn’t thinkin’ about anything ’cept living long enough to bring them back to the world.”

“But if you think wards on your skin make you crazed, ent nothing compared with eatin’ demon,” Renna said. “Started doing it to keep up with Arlen, just ’fore we came to the Hollow. Remember what I was like then?”

“Scary.” Gared shrank back as Renna turned to him. “No offense.”

Renna smiled at him. “Scared myself. Still do, sometimes. New struggle, every day. But I had Arlen Bales to pull me through it.”

“Stela and the others need you, too,” Leesha told Arlen.

“Can’t hold everyone’s hand,” Arlen said. “Far as the world knows, I’m dead. Needs to stay that way.”

“Stela’s in the dungeon right now,” Leesha said. “Sooner or later, the others are going to come for her, and we’ll have civil war, right when we most need to unite.”

Arlen turned his back, fists clenched.

Renna turned to Leesha. “Know it’s your office, mistress, but I’d like a few minutes alone with my husband.”

Floating above her was a ghostly image of Renna slapping the back of Arlen’s shaved head. It was so comic Leesha had to fight back a smile. “Of course.”

Arlen didn’t need to see Renna’s aura to recognize her tone when she asked the others to leave. He made her promise to slap the fool out of him when it was warranted, and it was a promise she’d never failed to keep. He turned, ready to bat the hand aside.

But Renna stood calmly, arms crossed. There was no anger in her aura, only disappointment. “Turnin’ your back on folk in need? That ent the man I married.”

He grit his teeth at the sting of the words. “What am I supposed to do, Ren? Barely kept you in check when you turned feral. To hear Leesha tell it, there’s dozens of them now. Ent got time for this.”

“So we’re gonna give up on ’em?” Renna demanded. “Hollow folk? Stela Inn? Callen Cutter? You an’ I were worth savin’, but they ent?”

“Ent as simple as that,” Arlen said.

Renna jerked her head from side to side. “All Deliverers, you said. You mean that, or was it just words to trick a bunch of scared woodcutters out into the night?”

“Course I meant it,” Arlen said.

“Then we need to make time,” Renna said. “You can spare a couple hours.”

Arlen scowled. “Couple hours ent gonna do it. I been gettin’ help for two years now, and I still nearly ripped Gared Cutter’s head off when he struck a nerve. You heard Leesha. Franq’s got their heads spinnin’ with this Deliverer nonsense. Already twistin’ our words to suit himself. Anythin’ I say’s gonna to get turned around once I go.”

“Then he needs a spankin’,” Renna said. “Front of everyone. An’ words he can’t twist. Creator knows I don’t shine over Leesha Paper as much as the rest of this town, but even I can see the sense in tellin’ the Warded Children to mind her until this swarm business is done.”

Arlen blew out a breath. “Say I do that. Take Stela an’ Franq an’ anyone else needs it to the woodshed. Tell ’em to stop stealin’, mind the Hollow’s leaders, and keep the fight to the demons. For the sake of argument, say it even works.

“Then say just one of them runs their mouth in town about me bein’ alive, or gets caught by a mind. Our whole plan falls apart. Everything we sacrificed, all these months. Demon princes ent dumb, Ren. They’ll figure what we’re aiming for and be ready for us.”

Renna put her hands on her hips. “Ay, then. I’ll do it.”

Arlen shook his head. “It’s too dangerous…”

Renna spat on the floor. “Kids don’t know their own strength yet. Took me months and my life on the line to learn to mist. Now’s the time to get ’em to eat a little dirt and set ’em back in the sun.”

She grinned. “Think the minds were scared of us? What’re they gonna do when there’s dozens out there?”

Slowly, Arlen too began to smile. “Keep their eyes on the surface. Stop lookin’ for us.”