Page 86 of A Conduit of Light
“Sure,Ihave.Ithink blackened fingers is somethingI’dhave noticed.”
“Letme rephrase.”Frustrationseeped through her words, yet her body held no tension.Shehad much practice of that in her life. “Haveyou seenBaronHeimlenwithout gloves since my arrival inFelgren?”
Helaughed. “It’snot like that’s somethingIwould keep track of.I’msureIhave, or, ifIhaven’t,I’msure there’s a different reason.Thisconcern of yours is…unwarranted.IknowBaronHeimlenmuch better and for much longer than you, andIcan tell you, my love, that what he did wassavethe people ofHyrithia.Hedid not connive to kill them.”Helet go of her hand and rested his arms on the stone banister. “Whatreal evidence do you have of such an evil deed?Whathas he done to make you think he would be capable of such a thing?”
Hewasn’t listening, not really, and this was not at all what she had expected from him.Aquiet rage began to rise in her throat.Sheswallowed it, as she had been taught, and stilled her breathing. “Howeasily you forget,Revich, that he took me from my home as payment.Iwas the compensation theQueenhad to pay in order to save her city—to save her son.Heforcedme to be here.”
“Andwhat would you have me say to that?ThatIwish it wasn’t so?Ofcourse,Ido.Ofcourse,Iwish the circumstances of your arrival here were different.Iwish those lives had not been lost, that the painHyrithiasuffered was not an event that will be remembered for decades to come.”
Hisvoice was hard, his hands gripping the banister to the point of producing the whites of his knuckles.Heturned to her then, his eyes black, his mouth thinned. “ButIwould not go back and give you up.Thepast is the past.BaronHeimlendid not cause theBlackFever, but he did find a way to bring you here and that is what matters.Whatmatters is that you have the power to heal the forest.Whatmatters is that you are loved and you arehome.Whatmatters is that you have found your place here, your place with me, andClairannia, andFiguerah.Wehave a future here together and we can do so much,Karus.”
Hepulled her into an embrace, her arms hanging still at her sides. “Whydo you linger on the past, when what we must look forward to is so much more important?Youare here, andIam never leaving you.What’smore important than that?”
Shewanted so badly to accept his words, to focus on his words of confidence about their future—about the past.Itwould be so easy, wouldn’t it?Toignore her intuition and let go of her feelings of mistrust.Hesaid it would be alright and that she had no reason to worry.
Yet, something still churned in her stomach.Therewas a piece of the story that didn’t quite fit into the box that held the events of her arrival toFelgren.Thoughshe wanted to listen and believe every comforting word he said with that confidence she loved, she knew she could not let this go.
Hislips brushed her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Wewill get through this plaguing time,Karus.Wemust focus on studying theBlight.Oncethat is gone, we can look to the forward horizon asItake on my role asBaron.”Hechuckled into her hair. “Orwhen we take the roles asBarons.Isee no reason there cannot be two at once always.”
“Butthere’s never been a womanBaron.”Shelaid her head against his shoulder, inhaling the earthy musk of him.
“Well, there’s always time for a first, my love.”Hebegan to sing then, softly, into her hair as they leaned against each other, halfway up to the tallest tower, halfway down to the entryway of theFortress.
“SoIwill see you at dawn.”
“SoIwill see you at dusk.”
“Saidthe sun to the moon.”
“Saidthe moon to the sun.”
PartFive
Chapter41
Karus
Ican’t escapethe dark, butIcan hear through it.
Ican feel through it.
Myheart beats at a slow pace, its rhythm steadying me.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Myeyelids are heavy, andItry to lift them open.Sovery, very heavy.
Ifocus on whatIcan do.
Ican breathe.Airfills my lungs andIknow my chest rises, thoughIcannot see it do so.
Idon’t know how longI’vebeen here, like this, breathing…sleeping?Howlong haveIbeen asleep?
Ihear voices, but they are too far, farther thanIwould need to make out what they are saying.
Whospeaks nearby?
