Page 369 of Alchemised
His expression grew stricken and then he looked away, flicking the curtains closed so that it was too dim to make out his face anymore.
“What’s the plan?” she asked into the darkness. “You said it was almost over? What does that mean?”
His eyes seemed to glow. “We’re just waiting for the summer Abeyance. Get you as far away as possible. You’ll blend in if you go south.”
“Is that where Lila is? South?”
“Yes, she’s still on the mainland, near the coast. She stayed at a midway point while we tried to find you.”
“We?” Hope rose in her chest. There were survivors.
“Shiseo.”
Helena recoiled at the name.
Kaine was closer now, she could tell by his voice, but the room was so dark that she couldn’t see him. “He turned himself in, providing papers and a seal identifying him as a member of the imperial family, and offering research. He designed those manacles in the hope that if you ever showed up, he’d be the one called in to put them on.”
“Well, he certainly managed that,” Helena said hoarsely. “This is all his fault. If he hadn’t told them about transference—”
“Morrough would have vivisected your brain the day they found you if Shiseo hadn’t intervened,” Kaine said. “He had no way of knowing what Morrough would do with the method.”
She fell silent.
“It was the only thing he could come up with that would give me access to you and buy enough time. He’ll be the one to take you to Lila.”
“But what’s the plan for Paladia?”
Kaine was silent for several moments. “Morrough’s weakening. He tried to use Holdfast for spare parts, but it wasn’t enough, even though he mutilated himself adding his bones. Enough of the Undying are gone now that he can’t move or breathe without that monstrosity of his. That’s why he’s so desperate for an animancer—he thinks it’ll let him start over.”
Luc’s bones. He’d used Luc’s bones.
“It’s all about striking at the right moment,” Kaine was saying. “Morrough’s activities and the extent of the slaughter here have begun to impact the continent. The surrounding countries will intervene soon. There are rumours of an alliance that even Hevgoss is cooperating with. Paladia’s a critical source of lumithium, and it’s an industrial power that isn’t easily replaced when so many alchemists are dead. The other countries may not have cared when it was a civil conflict, but now they’ll act to secure their interests. Once they’re confident Morrough’s weak, they’ll move quickly.”
There was an assurance in the way he said it, as if it was all arranged, every detail already in place. Helena brightened with interest, trying to remember what she’d read in the papers.
“How will you—?”
“You don’t need to worry about the specifics,” he said, cutting her off. “You’ll be gone before then. If you want to help, eat and get strong enough to travel.”
He left without another word.
He didn’t come back again for several days.
It made her anxious as evening after evening passed and he failed to even briefly appear. She couldn’t stop herself from trying to remember, to piece together answers of why he was angry and why he didn’t come back. Memories would burst open, staining her vision red, upending her thoughts, leaving her drowning in disjointed spurts of emotion and snatches of conversation.
She had fits all through the day. Davies added vials of various drugs to the saline drip until Helena lay in a stupor, unable to think.
It was dark when the mattress dipped and a cool hand brushed back the curls clinging to her face, tucking them behind her ear. Her hand was picked up, long fingers entwining with hers. Kaine’s thumb stroked across her knuckles, finally stopping at her ring finger, spiralling something there slowly.
The ring.
She’d forgotten all about it.
Once the fits stopped, Kaine withdrew again, but he didn’t disappear entirely. At first she thought she was imagining it, but it was undeniable that he was distancing himself.
He’d stand, hands clasped behind his back, not even looking at her, giving only short answers to her questions. She rarely knew what to say; everything felt either trivial or too devastating to put into words. She didn’t know where to begin.
Hold on, she’d told herself over and over inside the tank. Don’t break. She’d thought she’d succeeded, but now she knew, there were only pieces of her left.
