“Right.” The woman dipped her head and took a deep breath. “I chose the name Mathilda Bergmann when I made the crossing, Cheyenne. That was over four hundred years ago, and at the time, the name had a lot more flavor to it than it does now. Like I said, Mathilda sounds like an old cat lady.”
“I mean, you kind of are.”
Mattie’s lips twitched when the double meaning dawned on her, then she shook her head. “I like Mattie so much better. But before I started my life Earthside, as I’m sure you’re well aware, I was someone else. General Maleshi Hi’et, insert meaningless titles, et cetera, et cetera. I spent half a century as the Crown’s wartime advisor and leading strategist. I trained thousands of legionnaires while I served the Crown. Protected the people of Ambar’ogúl the best I could. Felled armies and quashed rebellions. The list goes on and on.”
The halfling’s eyes widened. “Sounds like it.”
“But none of that’s important anymore, you understand? The new cycle began… Well, I despise euphemisms, so I’ll just say it was a bloody affair that came about long before its time.”
“You mean, someone grabbed the throne.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Mattie glanced down at her clasped hands and bit her lip. “The new ass to sit upon that proverbial throne—and I do mean ‘ass’ in every sense of the word—showed the entire world who she really was when she took things into her own hands. Literally. Things changed, kid. I have no problem getting a little dirty if that’s what’s required of me, but to say things got messy at the turn of the new cycle is a gross and disgusting understatement. Blood, mud, and black magic. Add a heaping portion of greed and entitlement, and you’ve splattered an accurate picture of the state of things all over a blank canvas. Make sense?”
“Yeah.” Cheyenne studied the pain in her friend’s green eyes and frowned. “That’s why you left, isn’t it?”
The Nightstalker replied, “That’s mostly why I left. I’ve seen things that give me nightmares, kid. Still. The things I did by order of the Crown were far, far worse, and no amount of advice or berating on my part made a goddamn bit of difference. So, yes. I laid down my banner, stripped off my badges, and shot the Crown a big ‘fuck you’ when I hightailed it out of there. It’s still home, Cheyenne. It...calls to me from time to time. And for four hundred years, I’ve been satisfied knowing the Crown no longer has General Hi’et at her side to do the dirty work she was so fond of ordering me to do.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone.”
A wry chuckle escaped Mattie, and she gave a little shrug. “Not a soul. I abandoned everything I believed in because I just couldn’t do it anymore, and apparently, that put me down in O’gúl history as the spark of the fucking rebellion!”
The sharp, bitter cackle coming from the Nightstalker’s mouth made Cheyenne lean away. She still hates herself for it.
“But if that’s what it took to keep things from getting as bad as they could have on the other side, kid, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Every single bit of it.”
The halfling nodded.
Mattie caught the hesitation in the halfling’s posture and leaned toward her. “What? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, Cheyenne. I’ve had enough practice reading you to know a seed of doubt when I see it.”
Cheyenne clenched her eyes shut, then turned just enough to meet Mattie’s gaze sidelong. “You might’ve accidentally started a rebellion, but I don’t think that kept things from getting worse over there.”
“Of course not. They were bound to get worse anyway. Which will always be my shame, and I have to live with it.” The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Why? What have you heard?”
“Some new friends of mine told me about their village on the other side. The Oronti Valley.”
“Oh, God. I haven’t thought of that place in centuries. Beautiful. Serene. I always wanted to take a few months off and build myself a hut out by one of the lakes. Very happy people. And I mean genuinely happy.”
“Not anymore.” Cheyenne waited for realization to dawn on the Nightstalker woman’s face before she said anything else. “The way I heard it, there’s nothing left. Even in the valley.”
The blissful nostalgia in Mattie’s smile disappeared immediately. “I see.”
“And it’s forcing even more magicals to make the crossing. Whole families. Kids. Christ, after what I saw at the new portal this morning, I can’t imagine trying to take a kid through even a tenth of that.”
“Yes.” Mattie interlaced her fingers again. “Sounds like people are forced to do a lot of things they couldn’t have imagined beforehand. That’s where your trials come into play in all this.”
Cheyenne stared at her former mentor and forced herself not to bombard the woman with every question racing through her mind. Finally we’re getting somewhere. “It’s only been about a week, but it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for someone to spell it out for me.”
“Well, today must be your lucky day, kid.” Mattie dipped her head in wry acknowledgment. “At least in that regard. Clearly, you know about the prophecies surrounding L’zar Verdys.”
“Yeah. All his dead kids.” And my dreams that made me think he killed them.
“You know, I love that you’re just as much a fan of euphemisms as I am.” The Nightstalker snorted. “That drow has spent an ungodly amount of time trying to find a loophole through those prophecies, Cheyenne. Honestly, those of us who knew him were ready to toss him across the Border just to get him to shut up about it. Drove us nuts. And he caused more than his fair share of trouble in Ambar’ogúl during his mad search.”
“His other kids…” The halfling didn’t quite know how to phrase this next part without making it sound like she wanted to be his special prophetic-loophole child.
