Without waiting for an answer, she turned to follow Oriano and Serana deeper into the woods. Fifty paces in, she came to a small clearing where the commander waited for her with Serana and thirteen more, strips of cloth clutched in their hands. A small fire burned in the center of the clearing. “That’s a good idea, Commander, but the wrong time,” she said. “Cover your eyes, you and all your men. For the next few hours, light is as much your enemy as those from the forest. Fess, kill the fire.”
Oriano stood before her. “Without the fire to keep them at bay, we cannot hope to fight.”
Instead of answering her question, she turned to Fess. “Bring her,” she said. Then, taking three of the strips from Oriano, she moved to Lelwin’s side and began wrapping her eyes in the heavy cloth. Without the fire and with the setting of the sun, it only took one. She stiffened, straightening from her curled posture, her mouth twisted with contempt.
“Do you think I will consent to help you, Toria Deel?” Lelwin rasped, her voice dropping into the deeper register that defined Brekana. “Am I your hound that you may send hunting whenever you desire?”
“Yes,” Toria answered. “However much you may hate me, Brekana, I know you hate the forest and those who fight for it even more.” Toria stretched forth her bare hand, then stopped. Brekana hated her, but it would be a mistake to justify that hatred by taking what might be freely given. “We’re caught between the ruins of Rymark’s inner cordon and the outer defenses. The sun has set, and it’s likely that Cesla’s men will find us before dawn. There are fifteen men and women, soldiers of Caisel, who are hale and whole, around you. Will you tell them how to fight?”
Lelwin’s head moved from side to side. “Tell them, Toria Deel? It took weeks of experience and heavy losses to teach those who fought with me how to stay hidden until the right moment, how to position themselves in the moonlight to see the enemy.”
Toria stepped closer so that none but Lelwin might hear her. “While you teach them, Fess and I will give them your memories. They will have your teaching and experience to draw upon.”
“Ah, yes. Your mind tricks. For all your skill, you couldn’t take the memories that broke me.”
“I could have,” Toria said. “But our pain defines us, for good or ill. If I had taken those memories from you, it would have broken you in the end. Taken from your mind, but present in your spirit, you would have been unable to understand the terrors that came upon you at random times, unaware that some chance sound or smell triggered a memory you no longer had, but still held in your spirit.”
“Yes,” Lelwin mocked. “I’m sure you have an excellent reason for your failure.” She pointed at Toria’s hands. “And if I refuse, will you take what I haven’t offered?”
“Yes,” Toria said, but she made no move.
Lelwin held out her arm. “You fool yourself if you believe that you’ve offered me a choice.”
Her fingers hovered above Lelwin’s arms. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes,” Lelwin said. “Of course you are. Take them, Toria Deel.”
Just before contact, Toria spoke once more. “I need you to think about how you fight those from the Darkwater.”
A predatory smile split Lelwin’s face. “I think about little else.”
Toria dropped into the delve to see the memories that comprised Brekana’s personality. Sparkling recollections flowed past, savored memories streaked with black, testimonies of their dual nature. “Someday,” Toria promised, “I will see you healed of this.” She paused to amend her vow. “If Aer wills.”
Sighing, she dipped her hands into the memories that defined Brekana’s personality, sifting for those she would use to teach Oriano and the rest how to fight. After she had placed them behind a door within her mind, she willed herself to release Lelwin’s arm and blinked to find herself in the darkened clearing.
Oriano, possibly sensing her movement, spoke, turning to face her despite the veil he wore. “How are we to fight?”
“A moment, Commander,” she said. “You and your soldiers must acclimate to the dark, and the embers of the fire are still too bright.”
She moved to Fess’s side. “Will you consent to help me?”
When he didn’t speak she held out her arm. “You will have to touch me.” When he came into her mind, she was waiting for him in the midst of her sanctuary.
“You left me no choice but to help you,” he said. “You knew I would never consign those men and women to death.” Strangely, his tone was gentler than she expected.
“You don’t condemn me?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I realize you had no choice either. Without Lelwin’s knowledge, Oriano and the rest will die. My apologies, Lady Deel. I spoke without thinking.”
She’d been prepared for judgment, not understanding, and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. Ignoring them, she stepped forward. “Make a door within your mind, a place for the memories I’m about to give you.” When he nodded, she released them.
Finding herself in the clearing once more, she spoke to Lelwin. “Speak to them, Brekana. Tell them how you fight those from the Darkwater. Tell them everything you’ve learned, however long it takes.”
Lelwin stepped forward, her voice strong, assured. “First you must understand the enemy you face. The moonlight that is hardly more than a phantom of barest argent to us is as bright as day to our enemies. That is why you must wear the veil until you’re ready to fight. You must guard your eyes from light, any light, if you want to live.”
As she spoke, Toria and Fess moved to each member of Oriano’s command, touching man or woman, releasing Brekana’s memories into their stream. Over
